Recent publications suggest that the impact of the Coronavirus extends far beyond the physical effects of the disease and into the area of mental health.

When people lose their jobs, lose their income, and are then told to stay home and self-isolate, cases of depression begin to increase.  If you are struggling with overwhelm and depression, there is another way. No matter how dark things look, there are always other possibilities.  Here are two tools you can use to help.

1.    Start every day with asking questions

When you wake up in the morning and immediately start to spiral down into worrying about money or about getting sick, rather than running those thoughts over and over in your head, disrupt that negative thinking by asking questions. Questions are the key to silencing mind chatter.

Here are some questions you can ask:

·      What can I be or do different today to move beyond this?

·      How does it get any better than this?

·      Universe, will you please show me something beautiful today?

·      What else is possible here that I’ve never considered?

One of the problems with worry and stress is that we don’t see any other options. When you ask a question, even a simple one such as, “What else is possible here that I’ve never considered?”, you open up the door to new possibilities that you couldn’t see before.

2. What are you aware of?

Have you ever acknowledged how aware you are? Has anyone ever told you that you are like a radio tower on the top of a skyscraper picking up on everything that is going on around you? No? Someone should have! Ninety-eight percent of the thoughts, feelings and emotions that you have, that you think are yours, are not yours.

Consider for a moment, the state of the world. How many people are stressed and worried about money? How many people are bored out of their minds because they can’t go and do the things they love to do? How many are missing loved ones who are in a different place and traveling to them is not possible right now? There are a lot of unhappy things up for a lot of people; and just because you pick up on all those thoughts and feelings does not mean that is how you feel.

A great question to ask for every thought, feeling and emotion you have is, “Who does this belong to?” When you ask this question, if you feel lighter, none of it is yours. You are just aware. This question literally saved my life. If you use it, you may find you are much happier.