Whoosh!  It feels like our world has turned upside down!  With so much panic around the pandemic, it’s been really hard to stay centered and know how best to respond instead of react.  And with all the waves of fear and anger and anxiety, it’s all too easy to either get fully caught up in it or to totally shut down.

Even if you haven’t succumbed to the fear-mongering and ensuing panic, you may still feel overwhelmed.  So I am writing to connect with you in this time of physical distancing, and offer you some support and resources.

First, some practical tips: you may already know most or all of this, but these may be helpful to remind yourself in the next days and weeks. Then, I offer some thoughts about how to approach this pandemic in a way that could actually mean that there would be some huge positive shifts coming out of it. My hope is that together, we move from scared to sacred!

Practical Tips

• One of the best things you can do is to help slow the virus so that hospitals and medical professionals can cope with it.
  • Stop the spread of the virus at home.
  • Wash hands  for 20 seconds whenever you’ve been out (in English-speaking countries, they say that 20 seconds is like singing the Happy Birthday song twice).
  • Don’t touch your face (this one’s hard, as we normally touch our faces several times an hour; however it’s a primary way the virus is being spread)
  • Practice physical distancing. That means keeping a distance of 3-6 feet between you and anyone you meet or congregate with. Note:  I don’t like the term social distancing — we need social connection — it’s a true need that every human being has — and we need continue to be social — just by phone and FaceTime and Zoom and other internet sources — instead of in person.  What we need right now is physical distancing.
  • If you feel ill, do not go out.

• Don’t just focus on prevention, but be proactive.  Build up your immune system:  get enough sleep, move your body often, eat well (lots of fruits and vegetables), drink lots of water, minimize sugar, alcohol, caffeine.
• Choose to take a break from media.  The media tends to focus on fear, and actually sometimes ends up inciting fear, terror and panic.  Take a break.  Fast from all media reports on it (or better yet, fast from all news and TV:  slow down and read, take walks, or talk with your friends and family by phone, FaceTime, Whatsapp or Zoom).  Even a couple days of doing this will help restore your equilibrium.

For myself, I find that reading something like the Guardian (or other news sources that don’t tend toward hype), rather than watching TV, helps me stay more fully in a state of equanimity.

• Commit to helping those who are most vulnerable in your own community. In this time, those with fewer resources are going to be affected the most.  Find ways to care for those in your community who are in most need.  And make sure they also have access to medical care. Make sure, as some communities are already doing, that kids who normally would not get enough to eat get the two meals/day that they would have gotten at school.  Shop for someone at risk when you go grocery shopping.  Work for paid leave and no evictions for those at most risk in this time — our lowest paid workers who are either out of a job right now and who can’t even put food on their table, or who are working in all the places many of us can avoid because they can’t afford not to work. This is just a small list of suggestions.  Be creative!

We have a rare opportunity

Attending to the practicalities are very important right now – in this situation, we must care for our physical wellbeing and the physical wellbeing of others.  Yet your heart is also important.

When things get overwhelming, remind yourself this will pass. We always have a choice. Yes, this is a fearful and uncertain time.  And it’s important to feel your feelings – but not to get stuck in drama, or carried away by the media. Choose to respond instead of react. More than that, this dis-ease is actually a rare opportunity for each of you and for us all — if we choose to respond with courage, love, determination and grace.

Did you know that everything – including any emotion – has a frequency?

Right now, so many – and especially the media (at least in my country) – are vibrating at the frequency of panic, fear, hatred and anger. However, you can choose to vibrate at a different frequency.

Shift your vibration — and then amplify!

This is the time to choose to not just vibrate – but amplify – love, peace, and gratitude. If you do, I guarantee that you will move through this very difficult situation with more grace and ease.

In any case, I encourage you to change your frequency – and not just vibrate, but amplify your vibration of love, peace, trust, gratitude and even joy.  Doing this will have ripple effects.  When enough of us do it, we could make this dis-ease a time of huge change and deeper connection – we could make this a time for all of humanity to come together as one.