We are hearing a lot about how to stay physically healthy with our skies covered with dangerous levels of smoke in the air. Stay indoors as much as possible, Outside, wear a N95 rated face mask and avoid strenuous exercise. Set your car cooling and heating system to recirculate. But how do we take care of our mental health when we are faced with real danger?
HINT: Do not leave this job up to your monkey mind!
To the survival-oriented security guard residing in our unconscious, nothing less than 100% safety will do. Left unchecked, the monkey mind will continue to barrage us with negative emotion until the threat posed by air pollution is completely eliminated. In our highly emotional state we feel compelled to act.
We monitor news feeds about fire containment now.
We check to see what the air quality is now.
We research air purifiers, compare masks vs. respirators, and study long term health risks.
We worry about what the air may be doing to our health and the health of our loved ones.
We look at real estate outside of California.
The 90/10 Rule
If we leave ourselves unchecked, we will be spending 90% of our time attempting to eliminate the risk of breathing tainted air—allowing the monkey mind to run the show—and 10% of our time doing restful and restorative activities that foster mental health.
When under physical stress, we need to do just the opposite. That means spending 10% of our time taking reasonable precautions, and 90% of our time learning to relax in the face of danger and uncertainty. Here are three suggestions how to tame the monkey and manage that reversal.
1. Limit time on checking and researching. This might mean checking news feeds just once in the morning and once in the evening. If you are researching air purifiers, set the timer for 30 minutes and once it goes off, either make the decision then, or put off more research until tomorrow.
2. Notice when you are acting with the monkey mindset: I cannot rest or relax until I have eliminated the threat posed by air pollution. Remind yourself of the new “expansive” mindset you want to cultivate instead: I can take reasonable precautions that can limit risk, but it is just as important to learn to relax into uncertainty, which fosters resilience to whatever happens in life.
3. Listen to a welcoming anxiety practice I made specifically for this air quality crisis. Learning to welcome anxiety, rather than reacting to it, not only fosters a more peaceful state of mind, it calms down the nervous system, a key to emotional health.
My last suggestion is to try to have some fun. What restful or restorative activity can you do, given the restrictions of the situation? My daughter calls it taking a “smoky snow day”. Share your ideas and/or experience by posting a comment!
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