A Disturbed Mind to the Renewed Mind

Perhaps the entire human civilization is going through an unusual state of living while its existence is challenged by the spread of Novel Corona (SARS-COV-2) virus. And ever since the pandemic began, life and work has never been the same. We hope and believe that humans can find ways to deal with and eventually overcome Covid19 pandemic, as done with all the previous ones. However, corona virus outbreak has likely caused some sort of upheaval in our life.

The ripple effects in a disturbed mind trend upward when we have an economic disruption, increased unemployment and not to mention the trauma that comes with the widespread fear, loss, and the threat of illness. Sooner or later we will realize the bigger threat in this, and the post pandemic world would be stress from concerns of health, finances that meets personal and family demands.

As we clearly understand that there isn't any immediate miracle solution, doing what matters most in times like these are essential to our well-being and folks around us. Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations, hence the response below are from my personal experience not just to cope up the disturbed mind rather transformed by the renewing of the mind.

-      The Morning Mindset – Attitude is everything, especially in the morning. Catching up on sleep is great! But waking up at noon every day is not. The idea of waking up earlier than when you need to wake up is about getting yourself in the best possible mindset to tackle the day ahead. Because success (however you define it) is 80% mindset and 20% skills and mechanics. I am a personal advocate of waking up before the sunrise, come what may, this make me feel in control and start the day with a fresh mindset.

-      Change from the inside out - Stop blaming your circumstances for your negative thinking or in other words, stop waiting for an outside situation to change the situation inside your mind. The moment we realize the mess in our mind is not because of the world around us, we have taken the first step to steer our mind in the right direction. I start my day with prayers and supplications, faith in God brings comfort and cheer, even amid stress and crushing difficulties.

-      Cold showers will blow your mind – No doubt warm water bath is quite comforting, but the proven benefits of a cold shower will certainly blow your mind and kick start your day brisk and cheerful. Regularly taking cold showers imposes a small amount of stress on your body, which leads to a process called hardening. This means that your nervous system gradually gets used to handling moderate levels of stress. I started cold water showers after reading about the science behind the cold from Wim Hof’s method - reduced stress levels, higher level of alertness, more robust immune response, increased will power, also helps in weight loss.

-      You can control your thoughts – throughout the day consciously and unconsciously we find our mind with thoughts. Negative thoughts are sometimes inevitable, feeding the mind with thoughts that provoke wisdom and knowledge are important and an exercise to the mind. Every morning, I take some time meditating on the word of God that enriches wisdom and knowledge that gives depth and stability to the mind.

-      Schedule, limit, & filter the news/social media content – It is understandable and essential to be informed about what is happening around us, the social media or news broadcasts are quintessential in today’s era that brings forth information right in our hands. However, and undefined they are practically feeding our thoughts with information more than we need or simply disturbs the good mind. I schedule a specific time limit to spend on social medial and do make sure to filter the information based on facts. I even took a total break from all social media and news information for a few weeks, which helped me to come back with a defined method (schedule, time-limit & fact check) of using the same.

-      Walk that clears the mind – Take your mind for a walk! It is not quite easy with lock-down and movement restriction all around. However, nothing can stop you from taking a walk around your home or terrace. Walking gives you time to think, as well as time to get away from stressors. Getting out of the stressful environment, breathing the air, and feeling your body move is natural stress-relief. Come what may, I never stopped walking to achieve my 10K step goal every single day.

-      A Balanced Diet - The brain keeps working 24/7 and hence needs fuel to function. The kind of fuel is important, would you fill your expensive bike or car with a low premium fuel and most importantly over or under fuel it. I adapted to pure vegetarian balanced diet for about 4 months during the pandemic, trust me, it had significant impact on my mindset, mainly because it made me feel lighter all the time, less cravings plus the bonus to loss the extra weight and save money indeed. I retracted back from it a couple of weeks ago and totally feel the need to get back on vegetarian balanced diet.

-      Reach out and Connect – Reaching out and connecting with positive people, you will hear positive outlooks, positive stories, and positive affirmations. Their positive words will sink in and affect your own line of thinking, which then affects your words and similarly helps you contribute back to people who are looking for positivism. I follow a strict policy in this matter when I connect with people, if there be any tiny bit of negativity, hatred, or venom in their speech, that person is no longer in my dialing list.

While we continue to manage the task at hand, containing the virus and taking preventive measures to be safe from the deadly virus, it is indeed the need of the hour to acknowledge the effects of our mental health. As we together believe to overcome the situation, let us keep in a good mind and health.

Hoping this article may help you in anyway possible and If you may, I kindly request you to share a few thoughts. Lastly, if this article would have in any way hurt your sentiment or belief, please accept my sincere apologies. Thank you for the time and patience.

Stay well & Be Safe - With Regards - Joshua Kirubakaran