All You Need To Know: Mindfulness & Coronavirus

In this Insight Timer exclusive, Dr. Judson Brewer answers important questions about the pandemic and the resulting "social contagion". He tackles the link between anxiety and the immune system, offering ways on how we can take care of our well-being with mindfulness during these challenging times.

These valuable information and insights are lovingly offered to the community in hopes that it will ease mental and emotional stress, and break the cycle of panic.

Transcript

Number one,

What is social contagion and how dangerous is it in the current global pandemic?

Social contagion is the spread of emotion from one person to another.

It can be really dangerous.

We can prevent the spread of a virus by physical distancing,

But someone can basically sneeze on your brain from anywhere in the world when you're scrolling through social media.

So it can be really contagious.

Number two,

Can anxiety weaken the immune system?

Stress and anxiety have been shown to weaken the immune system,

Yet practices like mindfulness can strengthen it.

Richie Davidson's lab did a study over 15 years ago that showed that people's antibody response to vaccination was stronger after an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course,

Or MBSR.

Number three,

How can I keep anxious thoughts in check when the 24-hour news cycle and spread of information and misinformation is so prevalent and unrelenting?

You can start by taking some deep breaths to help literally calm your nervous system.

Just like frequent handwashing helps us to keep from catching viruses,

Short mindfulness practices throughout the day are like brain sanitizer.

Each time we take 30 seconds to pause and bring awareness to our bodies and minds,

We're more likely to stay calm and not catch social contagions like anxiety.

In fact,

My lab just finished two clinical studies with an app-based mindfulness training called Unwinding Anxiety,

In which we found a 57% reduction in anxiety in anxious physicians.

We did another study where we found a 63% reduction in anxiety in people with generalized anxiety disorder.

The mindfulness app was geared at helping people map out anxiety and fear habit loops,

And replacing their habitual behaviors of worry and so forth with short in-the-moment mindfulness practices.

If we all practice mindfulness short moments many times throughout the day,

We can build good mental immunity to stress,

Anxiety,

And panic.

Number four,

What if I'm so overcome with anxiety that my prefrontal cortex can't even reach the think stage,

And as explained in your New York Times Magazine article,

Taking a few deep breaths can do wonders at helping to calm down,

Or grounding awareness in your feet can be helpful as well.

We don't hold anxiety in our feet,

So that's a great place to ground in the present moment.

What if after pausing and thinking I find more reasons to panic?

There's never a reason to panic.

Panic doesn't help anything,

It only makes things worse,

And it makes it harder for us to think.

Number six,

Isn't it better to panic and be prepared for the worst-case scenario than to go on as if everything's normal?

Are there any benefits to panicking?

Again,

There are no benefits to panicking.

It only makes it hard to think,

Makes us act irrationally,

And is physically and mentally exhausting.

Number seven,

How can we help those around us,

Such as family members and friends,

Who are anxiety and panic is related to coronavirus?

Are there more constructive ways to reassure others to break the cycle?

In medical school,

I learned that when someone was having a heart attack,

I needed to stop and take my own pulse first.

This was a reminder that I needed to stay calm so that I could think.

Only then could I help the situation and not make things worse.

So it is really helpful for us all to pause and take our own pulse,

Quite literally,

As it can be a sign of anxiety,

But take that pulse mentally as well.

When we notice that we're a bit keyed up,

That's when we can stop and ground ourselves first,

Before going on to help others.

At that time,

We can spread calm as a protective social contagion.

Number eight,

What advice do you have for staying connected to the reality of what's happening around the world when our normal day-to-day lives are being disrupted and we're feeling a sense of isolation that we've never experienced before?

I'm putting out short daily videos on my Dr.

Judd YouTube channel to give tips for this specifically,

To help people develop skills to stay calm and connected.

I just uploaded videos on how to work with social contagion,

How to spread connection as the new infection,

And this even included a suggestion to cuddle with our pets.

And my cat Ananda got his first YouTube cameo appearance,

You can take a look.

And most recently,

I posted one on how to stop compulsively checking the news.

I'll put out new videos each day based on what's emerging in the moment.

People can subscribe to that channel to stay up to date and start spreading calm and kindness so we can all stay connected.

We'll get through this much more easily if we all work together.

Onward,

Together.

Reviews

You know this was written during the pandemic. But we are currently in a very different pandemic. The same principles apply, and I'm very grateful for them.

Excellent!

Very important. Will tell my counselor friends about you! Thanks for this! . 🙏🏼

I had never heard it said before “bring attention to your feet - we don’t hold or experience anxiety in our feet” I will be passing that along.

Thank you for these reminders. It’s so easy to get swept up in it all.

Anxiety and stress can lower the immune system. Mindfulness, breathing and grounding first before helping others. There is NOTHING helpful about panic

Thanks Dr. Jud. Great to hear from you as always. Thanks for your presence on IT.

Loved the advice. Going to check into YouTube channel for more.

Just brilliant. What I need to hear when my mind goes astray.
THANK YOU

Thank you! 🙏👼❤️

That was quick and to the point. Very helpful ☮️

This was extremely helpful to me this morning. I give graditude to you with a deep bow 🙏

Several months later and still very relevant and useful. Listened to this on Election Day. Thank you!

Thank you. I will subscribe!

I' needed this ..as I'm going through the stress of trying to check the other members of my family who do not need to social distancing don't believe in wearing mask ..so convince and stop them is building my stress and tension

Beautiful. Thank you so much!

Very helpful! Thank you 🙏🏻🌺🌴