A sense of calm has resided over me today. Yesterday, I felt pain in my chest, a heaviness I couldn’t shake after having a mild meltdown in the morning. It stayed with me all day, and try as I might to calm down I felt unable to.
It’s difficult to not get caught up in the news, in social media… wondering the right things to do or not to do in among this pandemic. At this stage, my work is continuing as normal, which does not sit well with me, but all I can do is continue to get as near to perfect sanitary habits as I possible can. I’m trying to be responsible, and I’m hoping that everyone around me is doing so too.
I think the shift may have happened because instead of seeing (and longing for) distance between people, I’ve seen ways we can come together instead. I’ve seen an enormous outpouring of love and heart-centeredness as people embrace uncertainty and look for a new path forward. I’m inspired and humbled by how so many people are looking at what they can do, when at the beginning of the week I was so disheartened at how selfish I felt so many people were being.
Rather than seeing only what I haven’t been able to grow in my garden, I’m appreciating what I CAN grow. I’m looking more creatively at cooking, looking at how I can slow down and what I can embrace during such an uncertain time. I’m keeping in contact with friends, I’m being much more present… all the things I’ve been longing to do for ages but for whatever reason or another… haven’t. Now is the time.
Resources that have helped:
- Yoga with Adriene: https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene. Adriene has wonderful (all free) practices ranging from 15-40minutes. You can chose to do her one-off yoga videos or be a little more radical and try her 30 day challenges. I’ve completed 2 challenges this year, and I have to say, it makes such a difference! Now I feel very strange if I don’t get to incorporate this into my day somehow.
- “Quarantine with Jam and Clare”. Jamila Rizvi and Clare Bowditch are the wonderful women behind this Facebook group. It is for anyone struggling with social isolation and needs a little check in and/or boost to their day. They have been holding weekly “washing-folding parties” live on Instagram/Facebook and I have a feeling things are likely to get even more creative!
- Find a community you can connect with on social media that talks about something you enjoy. For me, it’s been the gardening community on Instagram (come and find me at @tree_changed if you like). They are a positive and friendly bunch, and it has been so lovely to have some grounding content to watch each day.
I’m hoping to check in here more regularly because I miss writing and this, really, is the perfect opportunity to connect back in with the things I love to do. So from my little neck of the woods to yours, be well! xx