What can I do to recover emotionally from COVID-19?
COVID-19 has taxed many of us: many of us have been pushed over our emotional limit. I Interviewed Dr Jim Wilder about what helps us recovery emotionally from COVID-19. Jim described three needs you or your family have. They are
- To experience inner peace
- To practice appreciation & gratitude
- To experience God.
Let's look at them in turn.
Experience Inner Peace
Learning how to find peace and calm down is a key skill.
Your ability to calm yourself and be at peace is the strongest predictor of your lifelong mental health. When you operate from peace, your brain and body are free to function in their optimum way; calmness helps you cope with life, improves everything you do and reduces the stress on your body. Being calm is wonderful for you.
What can I do?
We have both had to learn to calm down and find peace as we both recovered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Each of us has learned some calming skills, but we all have gaps.
You can improve your ability to find peace with the skill-training we provide.
We developed the course, How to Calm Down and Find Peace to help you.
A few months ago, a bishop described Mike in a webinar as "the person with the deepest understanding of how to calm and come to peace that I have ever known." Take a look at our course. It works!
Practice Appreciation
Spending time in appreciation helps you to recover
The second need you have is to spend time in appreciation.
When we appreciate things around us, noticing the value of things, and naming it to yourself or others, it begind to chage the wiring of your brain.
You are training yourself to look for the good things in life and you begin to feel better.
If you do this intentionally, recalling positive things from the past and turn them over in your mind this begins to improve your mood as you do it over time.
This begins to change your outlook on life and can help your relationship with God too.
Mike developed a helpful tool for growing in appreciation which can help you turn this from a nice idea into an enjoyable, life giving habit.
My Story
My journey with gratitude and appreciation has changed me.
In the pandemic we moved house because of water damage; my dad was in and out of hospital; my work was demanding; we were in lock-down (which means we rarely left the house) and many people around us were ill. Facing these pressures and others, I wanted to thrive and not be overwhelmed. What did I do? I turned to God through gratitude and prayer.
I had been spending time in appreciation, but it wasn’t regular enough. I had a mindfulness journal, but it didn’t allow for my Christian experience of God. God changed me from the inside-out as I spent time giving thanks, praying and journaling.
I went on a journey of seven steps to life-changing appreciation in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. As I grew habits of appreciation (thinking about things and feeling thankful) and gratitude (noticing when I felt grateful).
I became happier and more peaceful. This peace and joy enriched my relationships and improved the quality of my life. You can buy the journal I wrote as a result on the resources page
Experience God with you
The third need is to grow in practicing the presence of God. You can do that
individually in prayer or journalling or with someone else.
As you connect with God, this begins to bring healing.
We help people to do this through Immanuel Journalling (taught in our calm course) and through HeartSync Prayer (with Ruth). HeartSync helps you connect more with God and develops your own inner world.
Jesus came to heal the broken-hearted and we find that in prayer this begins to happen. Contact Ruth if you would like to know more.
© Mike Jones 2021
