March 31st, 2021

3/31/2021

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Ground yourself into a sense of safety using your senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. Being mindful of grounding yourself into the moment will help to calm you out of your overactive mind and make this pandemic situation more survivable.

Resilience in the Face of Covid 19

I feel like mother nature has sent us all to our rooms To think ...

Well, here we are......sent to our rooms for over a month now. And from my experience of talking to people, it's starting to sink in that this is not going to be over quickly. So, let's remember our resilience and focus more specifically on how you might be coping to help you get through this time. And we WILL get through this. Life will be different and there will have been losses, and yet, never lose sight of the fact that, as a world, we have survived the Spanish flu in 1918, World Wars, Depressions, Recessions, the Swine flu in 2009 and many more things that I've missed but would probably become overwhelming as a reader. We are resilient by nature. Now is when we need to remember that.   And our resilience lies in our ability to come together as people with our ideas about how to cope, to use our creativity for new inventions and a vaccine, to adapt and pivot towards this 'new normal', and to be mindful of what helps us in the moment to get through this period of time.

So this week, as I have been working with people, we have been doing a lot of work in the nervous system, tracking where the stress is held and finding ways to release the energy or calm it down. So what does that look/sound like? It means that as someone is talking about how trapped they feel (a common trigger these days) I will ask them what is happening in their body as they talk about that. They might tell me that they have a racing heart or butterflies. So I will recommend that they put their hand on that spot and breathe into that part of their body and remind themselves that they are safe and that they have choices within the constraints. They might also focus on a calming sensation such as looking at a picture that brings them joy or holding a precious mug full of warm tea to orient them towards the reality that they are safe. That danger or a feeling of being trapped may have been true for them in the past but IN THIS MOMENT they are safe. To focus on the danger or fear without taking action to calm yourself or focus on what IS happening in the moment and is within your control is like a deer looking into the headlights of an oncoming car and not getting off the road.

Alternatively, for people who are focusing on the fact that this is 'just the way it is', and are doing things that keep their attention engaged in the present moment, they are reporting that they are not experiencing the same level of stress. Some ideas I've heard from people who have told me that they are fairing pretty well include: making focaccia with their kids; making signs in the windows and on the sidewalks thanking frontline workers; renovating their basement; building a backyard fire pit; recording music and sharing it online; making masks, gowns and scrub caps for the frontline workers; learning how to use jackbox, worldofcardgames.com or one of the million other online game sites. Anything that grabs your interest and attention away from the doomsday reporting of the news.

Unfortunately there is only one thing that we will all be successful at.....without even trying!....and that is dying. However, up until a month ago there was an unwritten agreement that we didn't talk about it every day and the news certainly steered away from reporting it. Now we hearing DAILY about how many deaths there have been in every community, city and country AROUND THE WORLD. With the news being this skewed towards those that are dying it is no wonder that people's nerves are frayed and that people are having a hard time staying socially distant but spiritually connected. Remember, we are doing the distancing so that we can flatten the curve of infections and protect the vulnerable from dying unnecessarily and protect the hospital systems from being overwhelmed. And we're doing a good job!! We aren't staying away from each other because being close is going to kill most of us. 35-70% of us will get this eventually ......and 96% of those people will survive according to the World Health Organization. And of the 4% that pass away, half of them will be seniors in long term care residences. This is important data to keep at the forefront of your mind because people's fear response when someone walks into their 'bubble' (my husband likes to think of everyone having as having a Pigpen aura these days!) is anger like someone has just given them a death sentence!

So here are a few things that I've compiled that might help you. One is a yoga class. I'm teaching online yoga for the Y at 7:30 on Thursday nights. You can find it on Facebook under YMCA's of Cambridge, Kitchener & Waterloo. At the beginning of class I try to add in tips about the nervous system and coping in healthy ways. Please join me if you're free. And there are lots of people doing this so if you can't join mine then find any type of exercise that you can to move the stress out of your nervous system.

The other is a meditation exercise that you can try. I tried to upload the meditation to YouTube but ....well.....maybe next time!!! lol

Anyways, gather things that you can see, smell, taste, touch and hear that you enjoy and that bring you a sense of gratitude. Then sit quietly and breathe deeply while you take in that thing with your senses. I used a candle for the sight because we light a chalice every week at church and talk about how having been to church and being surrounded by community that supports us keeps the flame lit within us. As you look at your object, take deep breaths and count bringing your thumb and fingers together and repeating the breathing 3 times. Touching your fingers together to count helps you to be mindful and gives you another sensory experience to pay attention to. Then repeat with the other objects. I used the tea I drink for both the smell and taste. A favourite sweater for the touch. And the sound of a campfire for what is calming to hear. You can use photos or rocks or anything that brings you comfort and joy.

My office in Waterloo is located at the Fearless Heart Yoga Studio. I think their tag line is very apt. You don't have to be FEARLESS. But you have permission to FEAR LESS.

Try being mindful and calming yourself into the moment and let me know how it goes!

Lee

Contact Lee

519-570-9163

leehortoncarter1@gmail.com

12 John Street W
Waterloo ON N2L 1A7
Click here to view map.

Check out my website at
www.leehortoncarter.ca

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March 31st, 2021

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