Simple practices to stay balanced, healthy, and effective in the pandemonium of this pandemic and the isolation of quarantine.

If you are locked down, your fear, anxiety, stress, and overwhelm could run the gamut from financial hardship to extreme loneliness. You may feel undersupplied and overwhelmed. You might be feeling stubborn or frenetic.

If you are an essential worker dealing with the public and your job involves coming in contact with people, lacking the normal feelings of safety will produce strong reactions that can overwhelm and stress your entire system.

Being stuck at home or working in a hazardous environment will be disconcerting, destabilizing, and disturbing. It will disrupt your mind, body, and emotions. It will trigger old traumas and generate new fears. Social Distancing will strain relationships and can cause feelings of isolation, frustration, and intolerance.

Fear is normal right now. When you are in a state of stress and anxiety, it is because you are in one or more of five primary fear patterns, which I will outline below. This will always be the case, regardless of how big or small your reaction. If you are feeling stress, anxiety, anger, frustration, or overwhelm; you are reacting to some type of fear in your system.

Here is a set of free practices: some simple movements and breathing exercises. The key will be to stay responsive and be less reactive (catch yourself before you go off the deep end).

I will outline the five primary fear patterns (fight, flight, freeze, fix, and familiar) and give you an understanding of each. Once you identify your fear, pick the corresponding breathing pattern.

These breathing patterns will be like your “Break Glass in Case of Emergency.” They aren’t meant to be a permanent solution, just something to get you back on track. After doing these practices, click on the link for Part Two at the bottom to take you to a more robust set of practices (also free).

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And then, decide which of the fears feels closest to what you are experiencing and do the accompanying breath pattern.

If you are in Fight mode, you will want to find or create conflict. Anger, frustration, hostility, bitterness, outrage, hateful, and contemptuous are all fight patterns. Fight will feel like you want to confront or engage. Click here for the Fight video and description.

If you are in Flight mode, you will want to move away or create distance. Confusion, grief, alienation, revulsion, distraction, and feelings of being rejected are flight fears. Click here for the Flight video and description.

If you are in Freeze mode, you will feel the need to stop or limit people, things, and situations from changing. Freeze patterns include thinking or feeling powerless, disillusioned, cautious, numb, hurt, indifferent, or stubborn. Click here for the Freeze video and description.

If you are in Fix mode, you will try to control things, find compromises, or manipulate things toward something that feels more comfortable to you. Coercion, seduction, over-talking, intimidation, bullying, interrupting, changing the subject, finding a middle ground, or needing to be the referee are all fix fears. Click here for the Fix video and description.

If you are in Familiar mode, you will want to do something you have done before, something habitual or routine. The Familiar pattern will have aspects of some or all the other fears. Familiar fears will include a longing, craving, urge, or compulsion to revisit an experience, confirm an existing belief, or repeat an existing pattern. Familiar fears replicate past experiences, thoughts, or feelings. Click here for the Familiar video and description.

The Next Step –

This quick introduction will help you manage some of the anxiety, anguish, and angst that all of us are feeling around this virus and the accompanying lockdown. If you would like a more robust and intensive version of this, check out the next part. Staying Upbeat in a Lockdown – Part Two It is free after you input your email address.

If you would like something that will help you overcome your stress, anxiety, and overwhelm completely, check out the full version of this,  The Anxiety Fix.

If your goal is personal development, The Change Militia, is a subscription, action-based, program that includes The Anxiety Fix and offers daily concepts, movements, and meditations to help you supercharge your capacity to love, connect, and succeed.

If you prefer to work one-on-one, I am available for individual sessions. Go to ArtofVitality.com for details and to schedule an appointment.

For media availability, contact me at Jeff@TheChangeMilitia.com

Breathing techniques for each of the five fears

Simple and easy breathing meditations for each of the fears that can be done anywhere.

Breath Sequence: Fight – Forced Exhale

Here is a quick movement you can do to down-cycle your nervous system and reduce your anxiety level when you are drawn to do something confrontational.

1. Take a gentle, deep, and slow inhale.
2. Pause with a full breath without closing your throat.
3. Then forcefully exhale as you clench your fist(s).
4. Pause without breath and repeat.

Concentrate on connecting the feeling of the exhale and clench. Relax your hand as completely as possible before beginning the next inhale.

If that doesn’t feel like it is enough or is ineffective, add other components like contracting your glutes, pulling your shoulders down, or over-emphasizing your abdominal contractions. Whatever you choose, stick with it, get familiar and comfortable doing it before adding something else. Pause and take a few normal breaths if you get lightheaded.

Remember, the subconscious mind is not sophisticated. Simple things work! Indulging your fear with parallel fight movements will give your subconscious mind what it is looking for and it will stop sending engage and destroy signals.

Breath Sequence: Flight – Forced Inhale

Here is a quick movement you can do to down-cycle your nervous system and reduce your anxiety level when you are drawn to do something that will create distance.

1. Start with a gentle, deep, and slow exhale.
2. Pause with empty lungs.
3. Forcefully inhale as you dramatically open your hand(s) spreading your fingers apart.
4. Relax your hand(s) and pause with full lungs. Repeat

Concentrate on connecting the feeling of the inhale and opening of your hand(s). Relax your hand as completely as possible before beginning the next inhale.

If that doesn’t feel like it is enough or is ineffective, add other components like pulling your shoulder blades together, pulling your elbows behind you, lifting your chin, or gently arching your back. Pause and take a few normal breaths if you get lightheaded.

The subconscious mind is not sophisticated. Simple things work! Indulging your fear with parallel flight movements will give your subconscious mind what it is looking for and it will stop sending run, space out, and distraction signals.

Breath Sequence: Freeze – Hold In/Out

Here is a quick movement you can do to down-cycle your nervous system and reduce your anxiety level when you are drawn to stop, control, or limit something or someone.

1. Take a gentle, deep, and slow inhale.
2. Hold your breath passively (without closing your throat) while making a gentle fist until you feel the first urge to exhale.
3. When you feel the urge, relax your hand and allow yourself to exhale.
4. Passively hold your breath out while making a gentle fist until you feel the first urge to inhale. Repeat.

Concentrate on becoming aware of the urge to inhale/exhale. Relax your hand as completely as possible before beginning the next inhale/exhale.

If that doesn’t feel like it is enough or is ineffective, add other components like contracting your perineum, isometrically contracting your chest muscles, or over-emphasizing your abdominal contractions. Pause and take a few normal breaths if you get lightheaded.

The subconscious mind is not sophisticated. Simple things work! Indulging your fear with parallel movements will give your subconscious mind what it is looking for and it will stop sending stop, limit, and get stubborn signals.

Breath Sequence: Fix – Four-Part Breath

Here is a quick movement you can do to down-cycle your nervous system and reduce your anxiety level when you are drawn to regulate or referee.

1. Take a gentle, deep, and slow inhale for a count of four while dramatically opening your hand and spreading your fingers apart.
2. Then, hold your breath passively (without closing your throat) for a count of four while relaxing your hand.
3. While making a gentle fist, allow yourself to exhale for a count of four.
4. Relax your hand and passively hold your breath out for a count of four. Repeat.

Concentrate on the pattern and the timing of each part making them as equal as possible. Try to give each part the same amount of attention and focus.

If that doesn’t feel like it is enough or is ineffective, add other components like opening your chest on the inhale and then isometrically contracting your chest muscles the exhale. Pause and take a few normal breaths if you get lightheaded. As necessary, increase or decrease the speed in which you count.

The subconscious mind is not sophisticated. Simple things work! Indulging your fear with parallel movements will give your subconscious mind what it is looking for and it will stop sending control, bully, and interrupt signals.

Breath Sequence: Familiar – Pulse Breathing

Here is a quick movement you can do to down-cycle your nervous system and reduce your anxiety level when you are drawn to do something habitual or repetitive.

1. Take sharp pulsing inhales until your lungs are full (6-10 pulses per inhale).
2. Pause with full lungs
3. Take sharp pulsing exhales (6-10 pulses per exhale) as you clench your fist(s) in concert with the pulses.
4. Pause with empty lungs and repeat.

Concentrate on the pattern and the synchronization of the pulse and clench.

If that doesn’t feel like it is enough or is ineffective, add other components like nodding your head, contracting your glutes, shrugging your shoulders, over-emphasizing your abdominal contractions. Whatever you choose, stick with it, get familiar and comfortable doing it before adding something else. Increase complexity gradually. Focus on the feeling of doing something with a familiar pattern.

The subconscious mind is not sophisticated. Simple things work! Indulging your fear with parallel movements will give your subconscious mind what it is looking for and it will stop sending habit, crave, and compulsion signal.

It may be that as you address and calm one fear, another comes up. If so, do the matching breathing sequence. Do these until you feel the urge to be productive or until you have relaxed sufficiently to feel balanced.

Our primary program is The Change Militia. It is a subscription-based program offering daily concepts, movements, meditations, and daily focuses to help you supercharge your personal growth.

It is an action-based program with an amazing community of people. If offers a go-at-your-own-pace model to help you maximize your potential, increase your happiness, and find greater fulfillment. There is a group call every week to help you relate others’ experiences to your situation. The Anxiety Fix program is included with your subscription. Click the image above for more information and to sign-up.

Included in your subscription:

• Anxiety Fix Program – A six-part video series with accompanying text and practices.
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