Hang In There: Creating Connection and Ease Through Covid-19
“Because there is a hope-flower, there will definitely be a hope fruit. Just wait and watch.” -Sri Chinmoy
Wow! Things have become tense really fast and I don't know about you, but I feel like life has become a bit more dramatic. Just a few hours ago I completed this blog post and edited it, only to have my computer delete it into the distant cosmos. Total meltdown…..I mean, I was devastated. I worked and put my heart into this thing and then it was gone. This is how I feel that the world seems to all of us right now. It's as if we have pulled the curtain back and the wizard is just not there. No wishes will be granted and Dorthy will just have to stick it out in Oz a bit longer. But here I am, writing again, so you can be assured that it is not hopeless, we just need to breathe deep, take a moment of reflection and begin again.
Creating ease and connection during this time can be a challenge. It’s funny, my daughter has dubbed Covid-19, “The Great Inconvenience” and it brings a new vision to that challenge we face. I have found myself cooking more meals than I usually do, shedding tears over my children's (2) canceled graduations, and beginning to look at my work from a different light. Some of the restrictions we face are an inconvenience but they are also a catalyst to a new way of seeing ourselves and our world. You have, thus far, created your life, and things have slowed down now and you get the gift of looking around you and recreating the world you live in.
Interrelatedness is challenging to create while in lockdown. Some of us who are more extroverted are finding this time to be very difficult and others who are introverted are in their groove. The fascinating thing for me is that we get the privilege to grow and explore during a time where we are told we cannot experience life in the free way we are accustomed. I have found that “The Great Inconvenience” has forced me to look at my work and community through a new light. Have no fear, you may not be able to physically be with all of your community but you can still create community. Instead of texting, call your loved ones or friends. Send them a voice memo,and brighten their days with your voice. I love to hear the sound of a friend's voice, the emotion, and authenticity of who they are, for me, come through with their spoken word. Zoom is a fantastic way to create community and family connectedness. Host a dance party, set up your laptop at the dinner table so that grandma can join you, or create your work calls on there and see everyone’s beautiful faces!
My yoga, breath, and meditation practices have become integral to keeping me from losing touch with who I am, as well as, keeping me from going absolutely nuts.
Pranayama (yogic breath) and meditation can be integral to creating a place for possibility and joy in your life, as it is now. Prana is Sanskrit for life force which comprises all things, and this makes sense as we cannot live without breath. Focus on our breath brings vitality and growth to our minds. Through meditation, we rest the mind in a way that creates a unique state of consciousness. When you meditate your mind is not focused on the external world but on the inner state and essential nature. By creating a home breath and meditation practice we can gain new insight into the world around us, the people we coexist with, and the way that we show up for others. At the end of this blog is a Loving Kindness meditation that is a great compliment to the current sense of discomfort and loneliness that some of us may be experiencing.
I truly wish that yoga, mediation, and breath held the answers to all of the anger, sadness, isolation, and loss that we are all feeling right now, but it doesn't. You hold those answers. It is within you, the love that you hold towards others and the kindness that you send out into the world, that you will find ease. Even when it gets sticky and your computer trashes a written work of art (LOL), you will still find a way to get the love out into the world. You only have to choose to create it. Look at what hasn’t been working and reevaluate it, recreate it, and remember that you hold the power to begin again. My friend Sarah B likes to say, “And now….it’s like this.” and this is my current mantra, it keeps me grounded and reminds me that what’s to come is not already predetermined. I get to make that happen and I will make that happen.
So, take a deep breath in….and let it all out.
Namaste
“A moment’s truth can and shall make the world beautiful. A moment’s peace can and shall save the world. A moment’s love can and shall make the world perfect.”
- The Jewels Of Happiness by Sri Chinmoy