In this sincerely bizarre and also challenging time with social distancing, stay at home orders, and the amazing toilet paper drought of 2020, it feels as though all of us are living in an alternate universe. COVID-19 is such a monster, and the challenging part is that we don't even see it. Because of the virus, we are seeing businesses close, orders to work from home, empty grocery store shelves, and also unfortunate deaths throughout our world. It is devastating. And we may face trying times regarding the economic impacts of this virus. But I also have to wonder, whether we are also being forced to move into a paradigm shift?
As many of us close up our offices, are mandated to work from home, and literally stay at home, we are forced to be with ourselves, be with our families, be with our own thoughts, and be with our relationships. What a gift and curse at the same time. We don't have distractions or places where we can really escape that anymore. Now that we know this, what do we do from here?
Opportunity for cleaning house
We have an opportunity here for internal growth. Have you considered what it would be like to dive into your internal world fully? We can all do things now like meditation, grounding techniques, getting into our bodies with yoga and dance. We can also journal our feelings and thoughts. We can dive in and see what is working in our lives, and what's not working in our lives. We can look at who we live and co-habitate with, who our loved ones are, and how those relationships are going. Are they stagnant? Are they growing? Do they feel dull? Or am I overly-stimulated? We can also explore what we are trying to run away from during this time.
Opportunity to focus on our health
This experience has heightened my anxiety and increased my hypervigilance. It's normal and inevitable. We are in the unknown by the hour. The other aspect that I have noticed is an increased awareness of my health. The heightened anxiety and hypervigilance has also increased my cortisol levels in my brain due to fear and stress. And what does that do? It lowers my immune system and makes me more susceptible to illness. We have an opportunity here to re-learn how to breathe during this trying time. We have an opportunity to tame our stress. We have an opportunity to learn how to laugh during this trying time. Laughter is good for the immune system. We have an opportunity to do our best to put healthy nutrition in our bodies so that our bodies can fight those toxins. We have an opportunity to rest more and sleep in, as sleep repairs much of our wounds as well.
Opportunity to focus on hygiene
As silly as this may sound, I've learned the importance of washing my hands for over 20 seconds and resisting the urge to touch my face. We are forced to even practice better hygiene. I will now always frequently wash my hands. And from now on, I will think twice about going into work when I am feeling sick or under the weather. It's an incredible shift.
So as many of us are going inward, let's explore the following questions?
- Who do I want to be through all of this?
- What's happening in my life that's keeping me from being at my highest potential?
- How am I showing up in the world through this and am I okay with that?
- How am I showing up when everything feels okay, am I also okay with that?
- What supports do I need to be the person that I want to become?
- Where can I take responsibility for the times I am not my best self?
- How do I experience solitude? How do I show up?
- Can I just be during this time?