Change Therapy – Ways to cope with anxiety during and after COVID-19

5 – Shake your body alive

Instead of sleeping in your bed until noon (or later) it is time to alter the body clock! Leave the phone on silent and stay away from the TV remote as long as possible from the time you waken.

Set your alarm for 6am. Have a wash, taking extra care of your appearance – imagine you are going on a hot date! Take some time, whether in the shower or in front of the mirror, to tell yourself what you want to achieve today.

Say out loud what you aim to achieve. Set small Goals. Positive thoughts only.

For instance:

– I am going to eat a healthier breakfast than usual. Maybe cut my portion down or have less sugary things?

– I will clean my kitchen today.

– I will phone my neighbour or a friend and ask how they are.

-I want to change the way I look and feel

– I will get fit and lose some weight.

Try to stick to what you have said you will achieve today. YOU are the one in control now.

If you are used to getting up late morning, you will be amazed to see that you have already achieved so much and it is only mid morning! Do you really need to watch TV this morning? Could you find other things to distract you from this activity?

Your body will think it is later than it is, as you got out of bed earlier than normal, and meal times are going to change as a result of this. In the next post tomorrow, we will look at adjusting your food intake to help with the changes in your body-clock.

I will be continuing these posts each day for the rest of this month, to try and help you focus on how to manage anxiety, so please remember to look out here and on my website https://changetherapy.org.uk/