I’m sure that even if you live in a cave somewhere you’ve still been inundated with information and worries about the Coronavirus.
What to do?
Of course we all want to stay informed so we can act responsibly and there’s some real-life consequences to what’s going on: people are working from home, kids can’t go to school, and there’s no goddam toilet paper at the grocery store! Yet there’s a point where news turns into worry-mongering which ironically spreads the most contagious and damaging virus in the history of humankind— the virus of fear.
I heard one of my teachers, Judith Lasater, once say, “What is worrying but praying for what you don’t want.” There’s so much energy in whatever you place your attention upon that it’s hard not to give energy to the very thing that you’re trying to avoid. How can we instead put our energy toward a solution rather than fueling what could possibly go wrong?
I believe that this current global health crisis is serious and that we should be responsible by doing whatever we can to avoid spreading it such as practicing good hygiene among other things. My wife started as a nurse before getting her PhD in nursing informatics and is no stranger to how easily germs can spread. She’s the most pleasant germaphobe imaginable and keeps our family healthy by reminding us to wash hands before and after going into public, to cough or sneeze into a tissue or elbow (then still wash hands), and not to eat anything before washing hands (. . . and wash hands again just for good measure). As we are moving forward with efforts to cut Coronavirus off at the pass, I keep reminding myself, “WWSD, (what would Seneca do)?” After that, I believe that we need to live our lives as normally as possible so that we don’t make an already bad situation 10X worse by running for the hills and stockpiling weapons and Snickers bars.
In yoga philosophy there's a concept called Indra’s Web, a jeweled net covering the entire Universe where every facet of every jewel reflects every other facet of the entire Universe. It’s one way of illustrating the idea that somehow everything is connected to everything else and therefore the greatest tool to change the outside world is actually to change yourself.
Whether you are infected with the actual Coronavirus, infected by the fear of it, or simply plagued by the fact that there’s a run on toilet paper at Costco, there is one thing that will undoubtedly help any situation and that is practicing grounded presence. Practice being the peace you wish to see in the world.
To that end, I’ve made a Yoga Nidra recording (guided meditation) which is about 20 minutes long and which I think you’ll love. It uses deepening layers of Awareness and relaxation as a gateway into practicing being the change you wish to see in the world. At very least, it will help you relax while the world is getting increasingly more agitated around you. Maybe it will help to affect some real change in the world. While you and your kids are on house arrest due to the Coronavirus, maybe try giving yourself some Yoga Nidra homework and do this practice a few times in the next few days as your way of changing the world from within yourself.
And if you feel like you need some good vibes in your life, now more than ever, you’d love to go to yoga but are freaked out to be within 100 feet of another person for fear of getting sneezed on, consider joining my weekly, live, online Yoga Nidra class which happens every Sunday at 9 am MST. Join me from your computer or smartphone, in the comfort of your own home, where the only virus you have to worry about is whatever computer virus already lurks on your machine. Seriously though, it’s really nice. This week we are exploring the super power of relaxation and how it enables us to reach altered states of consciousness in order to expand our stages of consciousness. Plus, you can register even if the time doesn’t work because each person who registered gets a full audio and audio/video recording of the event to review whenever you wish. That and it’s totally affordable . . . payable in toilet paper squares.
CLICK BELOW TO REGISTER
