Dear Lisa:
You may be reading this after your first day back at work, at the hotel. I hope it went well. What to do when anxious and having to go to work: take it one moment at a time, one hour at a time. Don’t look at the whole day and wonder how you will make it. Look at only the next minute, ten minutes, etc. At any one time, close your eyes and take a deep, slow breath. Pay attention to what you are doing, being involved and focused on what you are doing best you can, so you don’t get lost in your thoughts. And when you do find yourself lost in your thoughts and feeling anxious, return your attention to the actual thing you are doing.
Shift your focus from anxiety provoking thoughts to the look, the sound, the feel in your hands; to the sensory experience of what you are looking at, touching, hearing and to how different parts of your body feel as you sit, stand, walk, touch, etc.
anita