Resources and Ideas Fall 2019 Anxiety and Uncertainty (Part One)
What is Anxiety?
- Anxiety is normal, it is adaptive (to deal with real danger)
- Affects your body, thoughts and behaviours
- It can become a problem when the body reacts AS IF there is a danger when there is NO REAL danger. It is like an overly sensitive smoke alarm system!
- Anxiety problems are common (1 in 4 adults in their lifetime)
Some ideas for Teaching in the classroom:
4-7-8 Breathing
Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds
Hold your breath for 7 seconds
Exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds.
Repeat as many times as you need
** This technique cause an automatic nervous system shift from a sympathetic state (fight, flight, freeze, flee) to a parasympathetic state.
Grounding with Your Five Senses
What are: Ideas:
5 Things you can see? SUN, picture on the wall, people
4 things you can feel? Wind blowing, feet on the floor
3 things you can hear? Birds chirping, clock
2 things you can smell? Food from lunch,
1 thing you can taste? Toothpaste, breakfast
Resources for Teachers:
“In this time of uncertainty it is important to increase your uncertainty tolerance to decrease anxiety.”
Strategies:
- List your worries.
When you see them on paper you can face them and analyze how realistic or likely they are.
- Consider the worst:
Reflect on the worst that could happen and the best that could possibly happen. Is either extremely likely? How could you get through even the worst of the scenarios?
- Ask yourself WHY you are anxious:
Why does not knowing an outcome make you anxious, worried, and stressed?
Practice Acceptance:
- Scale of 1-10 rate the degree to which you feel uncertain
- Rate the degree of anxiety
- Rate the degree you think you can do the thing you’re uncertain about anyway.
Resources:
https://anxietyboss.com/why-do-people-struggle-with-ambiguity-and-why-does-it-cause-anxiety/
Jody Carrington- Kids These Days
Contact SECTA Wellness- amber.fornwald@secpsd.ca
Cornerstone of Wellness 