Ask Janine - How Do I Return Home After COVID-19?

By Janine Wirth 

Dear Janine,

I saw your story on Instagram (I love watching your daily stories btw), taking questions and hope you can perhaps help me.

I live in New York which was hit really hard when Covid broke out. My parents, who live in Florida, invited me to quarantine with them as I can work remotely. I took them up on the offer and have been living with them for the past year. I'm starting to consider moving back to my apartment, but every time I think about it my heart starts racing and I feel like I can't breathe. I really love the city and worked so hard to buy my apartment, so I DO really want to return. Do you have any advice for me?

Yours,

Nervous.

Dear Nervous,

Thank you so much, I really appreciate that.

I want to start off by telling you that what you are experiencing is perfectly normal considering the circumstances of the last year. Many people in high infection rate cities decided to either move to holiday homes or to their families to be together through that very uncertain and, for most, very scary and traumatic time.

I would recommend a Somatic exercise developed by Dr Peter Levine based on titration, specifically designed to help when someone feels immobilised and fearful.

It helps us to separate the past from the present by listing ‘what was’ compared to ‘what is’.

Take a sheet of paper and make 2 columns for ‘then’ and ‘now’. Under the ‘then’ column write out everything that comes into your awareness about what you knew and felt then. So, for example you could write:

Read and add to this list on a daily basis until you no longer have such a strong reaction in your nervous system. Remember that we all experienced something major and allow yourself time to adjust without judgement. 

When you feel ready to return, you might want to have a friend accompany you for moral support. 

Going forward - if you feel that you need support, I encourage you to reach out for professional help as everyone experiences events differently and there are many options available to you, so there is no need to suffer on your own.

I hope this has helped.

Janine Wirth, is the proud founder of Path to Healing Therapy and Coaching. Her mission is to help female entrepreneurs heal their emotional baggage, heal unresolved emotional trauma and PTSD without spending years in therapy and create spectacular business success for themselves. You may have read her story in The Spotlight and if so you’ll know why she’s so passionate about her work so when she got the opportunity to work alongside The Female CEO and provide a monthly question and answer she was thrilled! 

Do you have a question you would like an answer to? If so then drop Janine a line at [email protected] All questions can be anonymous if preferred, just let her know! You can read all about Janine and her work here or catch up socially on Facebook or LinkedIn