THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020 D 7ACROSS THE COUNTRY,cities and
states are in various stages of
reopening, even as cases of
Covid-19 are rising, particularly in
the South. Some people are loung-
ing at the beach, without masks,
or going out to eat and drink in
restaurants and bars, where social
distancing may be difficult.
But others remain fearful.
“We don’t have a vaccine yet,”
said Vivian Lee, 32, a freelance
writer and editor who lives in
Sunnyside, Queens. “We haven’t
flattened the curve to the point
where we can go around mask-
less. And yet we’re now allowed
by the government to go outside
and eat and be around a lot of
people?”
She laughed in disbelief, adding,
“It’s just unfathomable to me.”
With different messages coming
from varying levels of the govern-
ment, Americans can be left feel-
ing there are few reliable answers
about what precautions they
should take or a clear sense of
whether things are under control.
For anyone, that’s a weird — and
anxious — place to be.
“Uncertainty drives anxiety,”
said Ellen Hendriksen, a clinical
psychologist at Boston University
and the author of “How to Be
Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic
and Rise Above Social Anxiety.”
“Anxiety is rooted in not knowing
what is going to happen.”
And rising anxiety levels are
“really understandable,” said
Douglas Mennin, a professor of
clinical psychology at Columbia
University and the director of the
Regulation of Emotion in Anxiety
and Depression Lab at Teachers
College in New York. “People who
maybe haven’t been anxious
before feel this way. There’s noth-
ing abnormal about that.”
Here, some suggestions on how
to manage anxiety in uncertain
times.
List your priorities.
Depending on what phase of
reopening your city is in, it can
feel as though there are suddenly
endless possibilities: Do you want
to go to a restaurant? Head to the
beach? Get a tattoo?
But that doesn’t mean you have
to start living your life as if it’s
February 2020. Instead of focus-
ing on what frightens you, think of
the things that you want to have
back in your life that would enrich
and fulfill you.
You might start with a journal,
suggested Debra Hope, a profes-
sor of psychology at the Univer-
sity of Nebraska, Lincoln who
studies anxiety. Write down the
things you miss most, and the
things you gradually want to
reintroduce into your life. Once
you have your list, you can assess
each activity and come up with a
plan for how to do it safely.
Dr. Hope suggested viewing this
period of time as an opportunity,
weighing whether you want to
continue past relationships and
activities.
“Maybe some of them were not
that great,” she said. “You can just
let them go. Ask yourself, ‘As I get
to recreate my life, what do I want
that to look like?’ ”Ease back in.
Catherine Campbell, who owns a
marketing and public relations
agency in Asheville, N.C., realized
that she likes working from home
and is reluctant to rush back to the
office.
“I have always been an intro-
vert and a homebody by nature,”
said Ms. Campbell, 38. “Honestly, I
felt like I was back in my element
with the excuse to stay home.”
Remember you don’t need to
re-enter society when society
reopens. If you want to wait before
returning to restaurant dining, go
right ahead. Your comfort is the
only metric you should use to
decide.
“We can inch into the pool,” Dr.
Hendriksen said. “We don’t have
to do a cannonball into the deep
end.”
A toe-dipping approach can look
a lot like informal exposure ther-
apy, a medical technique often
used to treat anxiety disorders. If
you are afraid of spiders, say, you
might start by looking at photos of
a spider. Then, you would gradu-
ate to being in the same room as a
spider. Slowly getting used to the
presence of the threat, without
actually being in danger from it,
can act as sort of a cognitive mas-
sage.
If you really have not left your
home in a while, start with a drive
or a short walk around the block.
Each day, widen your circle, lean-
ing into your anxiety. Don’t dothings that will endanger other
people, but ease yourself back into
a more social rhythm.
And, even though it might feel
odd at first, socializing is not a
skill that goes away. If you have
done it once, you can do it again.
Simple as that.
“If we’ve ever had skills before,
which we’ve all had, then we can
get them back,” Dr. Hendriksen
said.Tell people what your
boundaries are.
Health officials say everyone
should share one set of bound-
aries. Wear a mask whenever you
are outside and near other people.
Be socially distant as much as
possible.
But you might have your own
limits, maybe ones that aren’t as
widely shared. That’s just fine. If
you don’t want to shake hands yet,
you don’t have to.
“You have choices,” said Dr.
Richard Maddock, a professor of
psychiatry and behavioral sci-
ences at the University of Califor-
nia, Davis. “You don’t have to
automatically mirror the conven-
tion.”
Although it can feel rude to
reject someone reaching out, Dr.
Maddock suggested reframing the
interaction as one where you are
keeping you both safe. If you
spend your time together anxious,
it will be less fun for you to see
each other.
“You can set limits, you can say
what you are not comfortable
with, and you can leave the situa-
tion,” he said.Acknowledge the
awkwardness.
A gentle way to state your bound-
aries might be to involve the
person with you in the confusion
and the uncertainty. Name that. It
will bring you closer.
“It’s OK to make it up as you go
along,” Dr. Hendriksen said. “The
only measure to use, in terms of
whether you are doing it right, is,
are you connecting with who you
are with?”
You might just ask, a laugh in
your voice, what the other person
feels comfortable with. Should we
elbow bump? Do you want to go
first? I guess I’ll take the next
elevator, right?“A problem shared is a problem
halved,” Dr. Hendriksen said.
“Naming the uncertainty is help-
ful because it shatters the illusion
that there is a right way to do
this.”Try meditating and
breathing exercises.
Anxiety can also be psychologi-
cally strenuous. You might get
home after a long day outside, and
feel the weight on you.
Meditating is a great way to
take care of your stress. If you’re a
novice looking to start, try for just
five minutes every day. There’s no
right way to do it, but a consistent
practice is a good way to build
your relaxation muscles. Apps can
be helpful: Wirecutter, a product
recommendation site that’s owned
by The New York Times, recently
named the meditation app
Headspace (which costs $69.99 a
year, after a free two-week trial)
as its top choice.
Or just try to breathe through
your distress. Dr. Hope and Dr.
Mennin suggest breathing from
your belly, imagining your breath
moving up from the depths of your
body. Slow it down, close your
eyes, and feel your lungs expand-
ing and deflating.Consider consulting
a professional.
Finding a therapist can be diffi-
cult. Determine what type of
professional you need, and look
for chemistry. You might click
with someone, the way you would
a friend. And there’s nothing
wrong with trying a few initial
appointments to learn about your
own wants and desires. Remote
options are now widely available,
so you can still attend sessions
while staying distant.
Of course, that’s not always an
option — therapy can be time-
intensive and expensive. Dr. Men-
nin, for one, is running a web-
based treatment study for essen-
tial workers and people of color
affected by the coronavirus. Dur-
ing treatment, New York-based
clients meet with a therapist twice
a week for a month, have access to
an associated app, and will be
compensated for completing some
small questionnaires.
But no matter what, communi-
cate with the people around you
about how you are feeling and
what you need. It’s always a good
thing to do.NADINE REDLICHParts of the country are lifting lockdowns, even as cases of Covid-19
rise. Not everyone is eager to step out of isolation.
BY AMELIA NIERENBERG
Manage Your
Reopening Anxiety
NOW THAT STAY-AT-HOMErestrictions are easing,
those of us interested in strong, healthy muscles but
wearied by burpees in the living room may want to
consider heading to the nearest reopened park or
playground for weight training. Experts note that
you can perform most standard exercises there if
you’re willing to use your imagination — you can
even recruit your children to help as giggling work-
out partners. What follows are a few moves for a
full-body, sun-drenched routine. (Wear a face mask,
observe social distancing and use gloves or hand
sanitizer to protect yourself and others, of course.)For a lower-body workout, find a tree trunk.
In the park, look for a tree narrow enough to encircle
with your arms. Hug it. Then squat, bottom out, knees
bent to almost 90 degrees. Hold a few seconds and
repeat the full squat or pulse shorter ones, moving up
and down rapidly a few inches at a time. As Dannah
Bollig, a personal trainer in Chicago and a former
Division I soccer player, explained, “You just took
your barre class outside” and worked muscles in your
thighs and backside. You can perform the same exer-
cise using a basketball hoop or light pole, she said.Use a park bench as a step stool or dip bar.
Instead of lounging on it, a park bench (in good repair)
can be used for “step-ups, box jumps and hands-
elevated push-ups,” said Adam Rosante, a New York-
based personal trainer. In non-gym jargon: Face the
bench and rapidly step onto and off it, first with one
foot, then the other. The fit and well coordinated might
try it with both feet together, hopping.
For upper-body strengthening, face the bench from
far enough away that when you lean against it, your
arms and back are straight. Lower yourself toward
the bench by bending your elbows until your chest
almost touches the bench. Push back up. Repeat until
your upper arms start to wobble like noodles.
Park benches and low playground equipment also
work well for dips, which strengthen the upper-arm
muscles, said Jeremy Loenneke, an assistant profes-
sor of health, exercise and recreation science at the
University of Mississippi in Oxford. Situate yourself
at one end, back to the bench, with your arms holding
the edge of the bench behind you. Then lower your-
self until your elbows are bent to about 90 degrees.
“The movement can be made easier by bringing the
feet closer,” Dr. Loenneke said, “or more difficult by
walking the feet out further.”Head to the monkey bars with your little helper.
One of the best resistance exercises, pull-ups work
your entire upper body and midsection. You could
use tree branches, but their health and carrying
power can be suspect, so better to head for the mon-
key bars at the playground. (Check with your local
parks and recreation department to find out if public
playgrounds have reopened and whether adults are
welcome.) Grab the bar about shoulder-width apart,
palms facing out, and pull yourself up. Here’s a good
playtime opportunity for toddlers who are game: For
greater resistance, swing your little one onto your
shoulders before starting, creating a piggyback
pull-up, said Simon Walker, a professor of exercise
science at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.
Afterward, perhaps, drop down gently and try some
piggyback push-ups, he said.
If you cannot complete a pull-up, try lifting both of
your legs while you hang from the bars, Ms. Bollig
said, either with or without your knees bent, which
works the upper body and midsection.Tire yourself out with a tire swing.
Finally, bear in mind that to our muscles, weight is
weight, Dr. Walker pointed out, whether it comes in
the form of a barbell or a boulder — our biceps,
glutes, quads and other muscles will strengthen and
grow similarly in response to lifting either. So look for
natural weights in the park or playground, including
branches, logs and stones. Heft them “the way you
would dumbbells or kettlebells,” Mr. Rosante said.
“Use them to add weight on a variety of squats,
lunges, hip thrusts and overhead presses.”
Tire swings, too, can double as dumbbells, Mr.
Rosante pointed out. Hold the tire by your side with
one hand and shrug your shoulder up, for a “single-
arm shrug,” or stand sideways to it, grasp, twist and
raise it for “low to high woodchoppers.”
And should all of these exercises start to become
easy and familiar, “set a timer for 10 minutes and
see how many times you can make it through the
entire playground,” Mr. Rosante suggested, a work-
out that should challenge the fittest and be, he said,
“seriously fun.”DEMETRIUS FREEMAN
FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESWork Out
In the Park
Here’s how to train your
muscles without a gym.
BY GRETCHEN REYNOLDS