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As a I sit on the sofa from home today, I am managing my feeling of impotence as all I wish I could do is be outside and helping others. I imagine myself volunteering in a hospital and holding sick people’s hands and bringing them their food while the real health workers do their job. This isn’t possible though, so I am sitting down and writing to you with some ideas of how a mindfulness meditation practice can help you in these moments of uncertainty. Anxiety will be a common feeling among us and it is key that we don’t get overwhelmed by it. Some tips on how we can balance this anxiety during the next few days of lockdown:
Practice Mindfulness Meditation in your own way - starting with 5 minutes
You don’t have to be mediator to practice mindfulness and you can start right now, after reading this short article.
Take a comfortable position wherever you are, keep your back straight, set your timer for 5 minutes, and close your eyes. Feel the weight of your body, connect with your breathing, and follow each inhale and exhale as if it were the most important thing in the world at this moments. Thousands of thoughts might pop up - and it is OK. Observe each thought, and go back to your breathing. Stop the practice when the timer goes off. If you feel like practicing more, go ahead.
Practice every day and do 5 minutes in the morning, midday, and at night. Once you feel comfortable and 5 minutes don’t feel like forever, you can add a minute and so on.
If you don't feel comfortable practicing on your own, check out check out my free 5 minute meditations online or you can download Insight Timer on your phone too. Insight Timer has tons of guided meditations for a variety of different topics (sleep, anxiety, self care, etc.).
Journal in the morning
You won’t be commuting to work this week so you might have more time at home before starting to work. Grab an old notebook, and write about your experience and how you are feeling for ten minutes. We can call his “brain dump.” Writing helps us release our stress and ideas and will clear our mind so that we are more present and active throughout the rest of the day. If you don’t know what to write about, you can start at the top of the page with “I feel… and then see what comes to your mind,” or, write about what you are doing this week, did last week, etc. I am sure the words will come out.
Mindful Stretching or Yoga
We won’t be leaving the house and aren’t allowed to go for walks, so making sure we move our bodies this week is really important. Again, take 15 minutes out of your day to mindfully stretch and bring a sense of ease to your body. I recommend Yoga with Adriene on Youtube or even live classes that are going around the internet
A few more tips:
Make mindful use of social media and the news - If you find yourself spending too much time reading the newspaper, Stop. Ask yourself, “Is this really necessary?” Set limits and accept that it is impossible to read everything online.
Set video call dates with your friends & family - even if we can’t leave our houses, it’s important to maintain connections with your friends. So call them, have dinner with them using your videos. Let's use our phones to really connect with our friends, instead of just for scrolling down a news feed! Call them, even if it is for five minutes! My uncle called me today and I felt his support and am truly grateful for that call.