Day 1

Welcome to Wellow - Day 1! To begin, we will increase your awareness of the different signals of anxiety so that you can recognize them quickly in the future and use the appropriate tools to keep moving forward.

Routine is also important and you will be reminded of this several times over the next four days. In fact, it works on two levels. First, if you find yourself constantly in environments that bring up a state of alertness and anxiety, be sure to question the appropriateness and necessity of remaining in that environment. Second, establishing a safe routine reminds the body that no matter what happens, it will have the opportunity to return to a calm state of mind respectfully on a daily basis.

Now let's take the time to understand and recognize anxiety. You will see how powerful the human body is and its capacities, unsuspected. This is what we will see together!

Anxious behavior can lead to the development of physical symptoms that sustain anxious thoughts and vice versa, until we enter an anxiety loop. This anxiety loop generates more anxiety and convinces us that this is an effective strategy. From the outside, avoidance behaviours and panic attacks can multiply, leading to real distress.

Understanding this principle helps to put our focus on what we experience in certain situations in order to give it a better understanding and an opportunity to control the anxiety that increases in certain circumstances. Avoiding these anxiety-provoking situations is not an effective solution to reduce anxiety because they will quickly become restrictive and have a big impact on our daily life.

(voir le schéma- 1)

1- PausePose

First of all, we will identify the symptoms, because after all, are you really anxious? Are you experiencing normal anxiety? Is the anxiety you are experiencing really doing its job of protection or is it acting more as a prison? Perhaps it is no longer appropriate in your context? If it is guiding some of your choices, to the detriment of your interests, it's a good sign that you should revise your strategies. You've grown up, let's also improve your mechanisms of well-being. Do it your way. MUSIC ROXANE BRUNEAU

Giving ourselves moments during the day where we perform a postural and mental screen of our physical, cognitive, emotional and affective feelings is THE best way to regain control of our life right now. Rather than accumulating discomforts and trying to manage the accumulations when they overflow, let's try to be more alert for a split second, several times a day.

Tip: It is easier to integrate this habit by combining it with an activity that is repeated daily. For example: brushing your teeth, making your lunchtime tea, driving home or after the kids go to bed, etc.

So here we go.

SIGNES ANXIÉTÉ

Physique - cognitive - affective

It is likely that you recognize yourself among these symptoms. The real question is not whether you are experiencing anxiety, but under what circumstances do these symptoms occur and are they appropriate to the situation?

Anxiety adapted to the situation

• The government is announcing additional measures and I am concerned about how I will be able to organize my daily life in light of these new measures.
• I am working in a new workplace and I am dreading my first day.
• I am worried about tomorrow: I have to go to Montreal during rush hour.

Anxiety less adapted to the situation

• Every Sunday, I experience insomnia, despite the fact that I know exactly how my job is going since I've been doing it for over 10 years.
• I worry about tomorrow, I have to go to work.

Anxiety rather related to a non-optimal organization of his daily life

• After more than a year and a half, I still have no solution to manage the children at home and the government announces additional containment measures.
• I am concerned about the changes at work, for the past 2 years, every day this job adds/changes procedures.

In fact, the idea here is to offer some examples of how anxiety can be useful and appropriate. However, if the anxiety is constant, despite a rather repetitive or even changing daily routine, but this is your reality, it may be wise to change the environment or adapt the routine. Of course, this does not replace a psychotherapy follow-up if the need is present, but the objective of this program is to increase the control of your daily life, without depriving you of the beauties that surround you.

Each time you have the choice, choose what is best for you

Each time you have the choice, choose what is best for you. This allows you to be more available for yourself and for the other.

2- FUN

Anxiety is healthy. Anxiety allows us to increase our vigilance to protect ourselves. However, having fun is a great way to avoid programming yourself to be constantly on alert. In any case, if you really want to be able to cope with a moment that is out of your control, it is best to include pleasant moments in your daily routine.

Today, we suggest you try a treat, no matter which one.

Here are some suggestions:

3- Productivity without burning out

Earlier, we discussed the fact that sometimes anxiety is like "learned" and represents our way of responding in everyday life. It is true that we have a procedural memory, which is a memory that allows us to do actions without thinking about them.

Today, just thinking about the day, do you feel that anxiety guided your choices or actions and took you away from the real reason or simply deprived you of feeling pleasure?

• In order to take stock, take a moment to recall the emotions/feelings you experienced today: the famous PausePoses.
• Identify 1 to 3 uncomfortable situations and say out loud what you did before, during and after, a bit like a subway operator guiding the subway. Avoid talking about the emotion and/or sensation, but about the environment and the actions surrounding it.
• Say out loud, was it appropriate for you to experience anxiety according to your personal background? Was it useful for your survival or your interests?
• Example:
• As I walk on the treadmill as I finish the day, I mentally look back on my 3 PausePoses done so far.
• I identify 3 situations: 1) fear of arriving late, 2) fear of not finishing everything I need to do by 4:00 pm, 3) disappointment that my day was not so productive due to unforeseen circumstances.
• Out loud, I recall the steps surrounding these uncomfortable moments: 1) my alarm is set for 6:00 am every morning and I got up as I do every morning, made my coffee, did my facial, brushed my teeth and arrived early to work; 2) I had an overview all morning, without really getting down to the business of the day-to-day; 3) I responded to emergencies without even categorizing them, left my office door open, answered all the emails as soon as they showed up in my email box.

4- Consciously moving on

Pillars 3 and 4 work well together. In fact, now that you have targeted the three situations that have generated anxiety, we can EITHER eliminate them OR think of solutions. This is what we like to call Worry time.

Situation 1: Was the anxiety justified? Have you ever been late? In the worst case scenario, what would happen if you were late? Do you have contact information in case you are late? Do you allow enough time for travel?

Once these questions are answered, you will either remind yourself that there is no reason to use your energy being anxious every morning for this reason, or you will make a change tomorrow.

Situation 2: Do you perform better in the morning, afternoon or evening? Do you have flexibility in the organization of your day? If you are a morning person, have you ever taken the time to close your door and work, without even checking your messages? What are the real busiest times at work?

*Beware of over-quality. To be a worker is to be a seller of your time. If you do much, much more than is expected of you, only you lose out. This does not mean neglecting your work, it simply means getting back to the mission of your organization and respecting it by making an equitable exchange between expectations, resources and your abilities. In the long run, you will all win.

Situation 3: Do you prioritize your colleagues before your own work? If so, make a list of "day-to-day obligations", "contingencies" and needs that really need to be addressed among your colleagues. Is this realistic in 8 hours?

Once you have answered these questions, prioritize a maximum of 3 actions to take tomorrow and MOVE ON. Clear your head in the evening, at least 30 to 45 minutes before bedtime.

Here are some examples of actions:

• Request a meeting with your supervisor to find out your real expectations of the job to be completed in an 8-hour day.
• Arrive at the office, take messages and respond to "emergencies" for the first hour and work for 1 hour with the door closed. Validate if this was effective.
• Delegate an unnecessary task to a colleague.
• Notify your supervisor that every day the same type of false emergency occurs and that you will take time to think about how to handle it from now on. An emergency that occurs every day, every week, is no longer an emergency, it is part of your operations.

Finally, when the day is over, each time you worry, tell yourself that you now have a time to worry and that you will address it in due time tomorrow. If necessary, you can put it on paper... suddenly your memory fails... This will save you from brooding over it in the evening.

Let go to get better.

The Wellow’s team