Mindful Thinking and Resilience in the Midst of COVID-19

With the shutdown in production and the loss of work, many members have been adversely affected by the coronavirus crisis, which understandably may take a toll on mental and emotional wellness.

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation hosted a 90-minute webinar on April 22 titled The Business Online: Mental Health and Resiliency During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The webinar centered on ways to practice mindful thinking and how to deal with emotions that can at times be overwhelming.

Featured on the panel were organizational and clinical psychologist, author and founder of the Entertainment Centre of Beverly Hills and JPA International Joan Pastor; CEO and founder of The Flourishing Center Emiliya Zhivotovskaya; instructor for the University of California, Los Angeles Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, creator of the “innermap” mindfulness app and host of the Lights On podcast Mitra Manesh; and coach, strategist and host of the Cashflow for Creatives podcast Kristine Oller. Actor-producer Lori Hammel (Jessica Jones) moderated.

Here are some words of wisdom and mindful techniques to put into practice:

Acknowledge and honor loss.

There are many factors affecting mental health at this time, and while it’s important to shift your mindset, the best way to do that is to take the first step: Give attention to the setbacks you’re experiencing whether they’re personal, social or financial.

Taking a moment to assess changes enables a person to progress through stages of healing, including becoming able to contemplate what has happened and finding new ways to protect their mental health. The goal isn’t to simply go from wholly negative to wholly positive thinking, but to find balance, or neutrality.
“Usually, we put a period at the end of [thoughts] like, ‘It’s been hard, it’s been bad [and] I have lost,’” said Manesh. “But it’s not a period, it’s a comma: ‘It’s been hard, it’s been difficult but, comma, I can handle it.’”

Listen to your needs in this moment.

It’s easy to feel like action is the best way to handle new and sudden information during this time, but there is power in simply listening. When relaying her own personal experiences, Pastor stated that listening to others voice their feelings, as well as hearing her own thoughts, has helped her be more aware the needs of herself and others.
A good way to utilize this practice is to journal, which Pastor and Oller advocated as a useful tool to help express thoughts and feelings.

“When you can put the thoughts swirling around in your head on paper, there’s a detachment that can happen, and you can start to [examine] them,” said Oller.
Doing so makes it easier to articulate your needs to those closest to you and garners support — even if it’s done virtually.

Shift your thinking from the “now” to the bigger picture, and find opportunities as they come.

Oller pointed out that there are three ways, or “modes,” performers may be experiencing due to the sudden financial upheaval caused by the loss of work: First, the “spin cycle,” where one experiences their most anxious thoughts; the “short game” where meeting practical needs like rent is prioritized; and the “long game,” or the period in which focus is given to future personal and professional goals.

Thinking about the long game doesn’t mean forcing yourself to be creative. It’s important to let yourself heal and better your mindset to invoke creativity. There is value in re-evaluating your goals over the next few months and years.

“If you start looking from the big picture perspective in your career, what it does is give you space,” said Oller. “It’s not about being busy; it’s about having focus.”
What may be important to remember is that unlike other types of professionals, actors often experience moments of inactivity between gigs. Zhivotovskaya points out, this makes them uniquely capable of finding new opportunities and ways to channel their talents.

“Sometimes we see that the way to handle threat is to look at how to turn it into opportunity. There’s been a number of people figuring out ways to continue to serve people in the way that you do,” said Zhivotovskaya. “I think tapping into the resilience you all have already can be one of the best ways to handle stressful moments and give back to the community.”  

To watch this webinar, see below. For more information about the Foundation’s services available to SAG-AFTRA members during the COVID-19 crisis, click here.

The views expressed at this workshop are not intended to imply an endorsement of any individual or company by SAG-AFTRA. The information provided through the workshop is given for informational purposes and may not be a suitable substitute for the advice of professionals. You should always use good judgment in these matters and should not act or refrain from acting based solely on information provided through the workshop.