As a team of Dietitians/Nutritionists, we certainly speak a lot about food and food choices with our clients. Another topic that comes up often is mental/emotional health, and how stress, anxiety, boredom, excitement (basically any emotion or situation), can change our desire to eat, and/or the types of food we choose.  Paying attention to the links between situations, emotions, feelings and food intake can be really rewarding. To that end, mindfulness and meditation can play a big role in the reduction of stress and anxiety.  

For this week's Mindfulness/Mental Health Tips, we turn to our good friend and psychotherapist

Dayna M. Kurtz.

(@daynam.kurtz / http://www.daynamkurtz.com)

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A few years ago, I took my son to the planetarium at the Museum of Natural History. In the dark, we listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson narrating a program about black holes and dark matter. At some point, fairly early on I realized I had stopped listening. This was not from lack of interest; it was from an inability to take it all in. Like the universe itself, these ideas were too big, too vast and too abstract to absorb.

This strange feeling, the one that often accompanies something beyond our comprehension, may be similar to what many of us are experiencing now. Our lives have been upended in myriad ways, with no end-date in the foreseeable future.  

And yet, even within the discomfort and uncertainty, we can still choose to make the situation more manageable. Just as it is critical right now that we try and preserve our physical health with     "social distancing," nourishing foods, sensible movement and rest, it is equally important that we tend to our psychological wellbeing. As a matter of fact, an experience like the one we 're having now affords us the opportunity to grow emotional resilience; a particular brand of mental strength that makes us better able to move through the world, whatever might come our way.

Here are five quick tips you can try right now, to give yourself a mental boost:

1) Turn off your TV (and your phone, and your laptop, etc.):

There's an expression in journalism: "If it bleeds, it leads." News is a business and bad news, like a global pandemic, can make for good business where the media is concerned. Consider titrating the pace of your information input by placing some boundaries around how often you check your news feed. Set a timer for ten minutes at each meal-- breakfast, lunch and dinner-and then shift your focus. That should be enough to keep you up to date, and might keep you from feeling quite so overwhelmed.

2) Think about Thankfulness:

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3)     Recalibrate Your Expectations:

We are not living life as usual, nor will we be for some time. Reconsider the expectations you have for yourself and others. Take some time to devise a game plan for the "new normal." This might include changing up who does the usual chores around the house, how you share technological resources and, if you are parents of school-age children, who is going to take on which parenting responsibilities and when. We're all stretched thin; a little generosity and thoughtfulness will go a long way.

4)     Stay Present:

Focusing on our senses and deep breathing are two ways we can interrupt the pattern of intrusive or upsetting thoughts. If you find your mind racing with "what-ifs" about Covid-19, try this simple sensory exercise (notice I wrote "simple,"-not "easy.") Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose to a count of 4, then exhale slowly through your mouth to a count of 8. Feel your feet on the floor. Open your ears up to the sounds around you, and notice any smells wafting your way, without comment. Take another deep inhale and exhale. Open your eyes.

5)     Use Technology, Smartly:

Some of the same technology that overwhelms us with information, also allows us to stay connected-for the better. Reserve at least 30 minutes a day to Skype or FaceTime with someone you care about. And when you do, be sure to expand the conversation beyond the Coronavirus. Take this opportunity to learn something new about your friend. Ask about favorite books, movies or meals. Ask about favorite memories. Ask about an accomplishment that has brought the greatest pride. You might be surprised how much you have to share beyond the obvious.

Bio:

Dayna M. Kurtz is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City and the former Director of the Anna Keefe Women's Center at the Training Institute for Mental Health in Manhattan. She is the author of Mother Matters: A Holistic Guide to Being a Happy, Healthy Mom (Familius Press), The Total Body Cure for Women (Hearst,) and is a contributor to The Doctor's Book of Natural Remedies (Rodale). Dayna's writing has appeared in The Washington Post and The Huffington Post and she has been consulted as an expert for media outlets including The Boston Globe, The Today Show and Sirius XM radio.