Fearful of Coronavirus? Overcome fear of Coronavirus

Coronavirus seems to be the only topic of conversation as we all try to make sense of it. It’s challenging not to be fearful of Coronavirus. On the one hand, we know it’s a flu-like virus and like the flu, it isn’t very pleasant. It can be fatal, but for the vast majority of people who catch it, they will survive and be well afterwards. On the other hand, there is hysteria, panic-buying, media frenzy and special Government directives. It feels more like an outbreak of war, instead of a more typical response to a virus. As a result, most people feel a degree of fear—ranging from mild uncertainty to feeling terrified. Dealing with fear and stress is potentially more damaging than the virus itself. But how do we separate the fear from what’s going on around us? See my short EFT tapping video to help you release your fear of Coronavirus below.

To understand a little more about EFT and the tapping points, please see this EFT Tapping video.

Understanding Fear

Healthy fear arises naturally as part of our intuition. It begins with a tingle when we sense something is not right. Our hearing, sense of smell and eyesight become highly focused as we tune-in to find out what is threatening our survival. As fear rises, our body increases the amount of adrenaline and cortisol in our bloodstream. These two hormones trigger the stress response of flight or fight—even though we rarely need to run or to fight for our survival today. Adrenaline and cortisol also pump more blood into our limbs and raise our blood sugar levels to provide more instant energy. We also become more reactionary rather than response led as the latter takes the brain longer to compute. When the fear has passed, the body reverses these body changes. But for many people, fear and stress are already a daily occurrence before the Coronavirus appeared. So now, many people are living with extraordinary stress levels, which partly explains panic buying as we are reacting more and responding (thought-led) less.

The impact of prolonged fear

Our flight and fight responses evolved aeons ago when we lived alongside sabretooth tigers and woolly mammoths. Fear about Coronavirus is spreading via the news in the papers, on the TV and radio. Because the news is broadcast 24/7, and no running or fighting is required, we don’t have a physical release of the pent-up energy. So our blood sugar levels stay higher than they should for more extended periods. And more blood is circulating in our limbs than in our digestive system. And this latter point is crucial as it diminishes our immune system.

Ways to boost our immune system

The immune system and digestive system are intricately connected. So what we eat, the balance of good and harmful bacteria in the gut, and the blood flow in our digestive system all impact our immune system. Making a few simple changes in your life can boost your immune system to help your body fight off all viruses, not just Coronavirus.
Restful sleep minimises fear levels too, so choose not to watch the late-night news just before going to bed. Also, have at least 45 minutes of dim lights without any blue-light—TV, laptop, computer, mobile-phone—before bedtime.

Minimising fear

One effortless way of calming yourself, is to breathe deeply, slowly and rhythmically without forcing your breath. Just a few minutes of breathing like this switches off the flight and fight alarms. When we’re fearful or stressed, our breathing becomes more rapid and shallow. Deep, slow breathing tells your body you are safe. The body can’t maintain its stress-response while deep breathing. So practice this several times a day—and especially for a few minutes before you go to bed. Read more in article: Reduce anxiety with Belly Breathing

Add more fresh food to your diet

Your immune system requires antioxidants to counteract free-radicals. Vitamins A, C and E are all high in antioxidant properties. Fresh fruit and vegetables also contain numerous phytonutrients, many of which also include antioxidant properties. The listed foods contain lots of vitamin A, C or E. Orange coloured fruits and vegetables are high in vitamin A. While citrus fruits, kiwi and spinach are particularly high in vitamin C. Vitamin E is fat-soluble, so it’s in lots of fish as well as in avocado and mango.
Vegetables: Avocado • Broccoli • Butternut Squash • Cabbage • Carrots • Kale • Spinach • Sweet Potatoes • Tomatoes • Watercress
Fruits: Blueberries • Grapefruit • Kiwi • Lemons • Limes • Mango • Oranges • Raspberries • Strawberries
Foods high in vitamin E: Almonds • Eggs • Crab • Crayfish • Pine Nuts • Rainbow Trout • Salmon • Sunflower seeds
Eating more fruit and vegetables will increase the amount of dietary fibre going through your digestive system, which improves bowel movements. Dietary fibre provides a food source to good bacteria in your gut.

Supplements

There is a mass of conflicting views on taking multivitamin supplements. If you grow your fruit and vegetables and prepare most of your food from fresh, you probably don’t need to take a multivitamin. But if you rely on commercially grown crops, or don’t eat much fresh produce, I recommend taking a multivitamin. Despite eating a healthy diet, I take a good quality multivitamin and mineral tablet with extra vitamin C as an insurance policy. Brands I use are; Terra Nova, Cytoplan and Lamberts. Less expensive ones that I believe also are useful include; Seven Seas (for example Multibionta), Vitabiotics (for example Wellwoman, Wellman) and Centrum.
Most multivitamin tablets contain 80mg of vitamin C, which is quoted as the 100% RDA (recommended daily amount). This daily amount will protect you from scurvy but is far less the optimal amount which for adults is between 200–2000mg a day. The difference is depends on your age, air-pollution levels where you live and work, whether you smoke and your general health. Dr Paul Clayton, author of Health Defence, along with the majority of well-known nutritionists, recommend a minimum of 500 mg a day taken as a slow-release formulation. The body can’t manufacture vitamin C nor can it store it. Consequently, a slow-release gives the body a better chance of using it, rather than peeing out the excess.
Vitamin C helps fight off viruses by inhibiting the enzyme neuraminidase, which viruses use to attacks cells. Vitamin C also helps in the production of the protein interferon, which the immune system uses to fight viruses.

Take care of yourself

Hand washing makes sense – not just as protection from Coronavirus, but also gives you better protection from other viruses like the common cold.
Listen to the advice that’s coming from our top scientists and medical experts via the Government. Some of it may be inconvenient, annoying or financially disrupting, but it’s designed to help us all. Most of all, remember that the vast majority of people who are unfortunate to catch Coronavirus will survive and be well after a few days.