Dear Girija:

I didn’t know (maybe you shared, and I forgot) that you work from home… every day, or do you go to an office some days?

“I wake up and still feel groggy… I am sick of constantly feeling scared and acting out of fear” -so, living in fear, you go to bed groggy, and you wake up groggy.

“I wake up and still feel groggy. Brush my teeth and check my work messages” – here is what I suggest that you do after you wake up and before you check your messages, an exercise that takes about a minute or two to do, and which I do first thing every morning: standing straight, slowly (don’t rush it) rotate your arms 10 times in the forward direction and then ten times in the backward direction. Once you do the 10th rotation in the backward direction, hold your arms steady to your sides, perpendicular to the floor- this is a chest-opener posture. It is a courage posture because you present your heart to the world (unlike the usual fear posture: the shoulders rounded forward, closing in on the heart, hiding it from the world). As you hold this posture for some time, say to yourself: I am facing today with courage!

“If there is a message I need to respond to, I keep rehearsing what the answer should be” – when you notice that you keep rehearsing an answer, say to yourself… I am facing this message with courage! Then take a deep breath and answer the message.

“I turn my laptop on and constantly look for any messages I may get” – decide how often you should check your messages, let’s say once an hour- have your phone beep every hour and check your messages after each beep.

“Feeling tensed or irritated at the thought of having to attend a meeting that happens daily. If someone tells me there’s an issue, I am already scared it may be horrible“, etc. – say to yourself (you should know by now…): I am facing today with courage! If you are not convinced, do the arm rotation exercise again, or just the last part of it, the chest opener posture.

Let me know how it works tomorrow morning, will you?

anita