Oops I am locked-down. We are forced to stay at home. Bam. That’s a totally new experience for most everyone, right? I mean the whole world “decided” or was forced to decide at the same time to kind of stop everything. If we had tried to plan something like that, I am sure there would have been so many voices, opinions, excuses, arguments, whatever, that it would not have been possible. And I am sure this would have never been a discussion anyway. Because what about the economic deficit this would create, the stock of food we have to get home, especially the piles of toilet paper we need to hoard, what about the kids missing school, what about the unemployment rate and the budget deficit? This could never have happened, and yet we are in it now.
Everybody is sitting at home in confinement, locked down and trying to make the best out of the situation.
For some people like me, who are used to working from home, the difference is not that huge. I am surprised that my way of living is called “isolation.” I admit that I like being home alone, organizing my day however I want, creating my routines, creating my working hours and my breaks. I call it freedom. Anyway, if this is new to you, how are you coping with the situation being at home now? Can you use the time to start something new, something you always wanted to do but never found the time in your normal busy life?
I see clients and friends who find themselves in this lockdown in an even busier schedule than before. As some people have to work remotely now from home and also have the kids around them 24/7, this situation is more than a struggle. The kids need to and want to be occupied and get attention, you have to do work for your boss, you have to prepare meals, you have to keep your own sanity. This is a lot to manage now and nothing is in place or in order for this extraordinary situation. You have to become creative, organized and stay calm in order to keep peace in the house. I also already see couples and families fighting a lot as there is no channel for this new energy that is building up at home. So what is the solution? How can we keep our inner calm, how can we find a routine, how can we find quiet time for everyone and make the best out of it? In the best scenario: let’s heal a bit more.
- Have a routine. I think keeping a routine, like waking up at the same time, having breakfast, organizing working hours, tasks for kids, organizing who can help with what and do what tasks in the household (share the tasks), getting to bed and getting enough sleep, these are essentials.
- Accept that everybody needs some “me-time”. Everybody needs to get space to be with him-/herself to read, to exercise, to just hang out and be oneself
- Have compassion for the other when a bad mood is coming up. We all go through an abundance of emotions and old fears, anger, etc. might pop up. Facing money loss can bring you back to old money beliefs like “there is not enough”, ”I am not good enough”, “I am a failure” just to name a few.
- You might see a new side of your partner that you have never seen before because neither you nor he/she was in this situation. Acceptance, respect, and acknowledgment are important.
- Eat healthy! This is super important, first of all, we need to keep our immune system on a high level and secondly, healthy food plays a role in keeping our mood high and positive. Crappy food equals crappy mood.
- Exercise! Exercising creates happy hormones and is an outlet for negative (anger, fear, anxiety e.g.) energy. I am sure you always wanted to have abs that look like a six-pack, now is the time, and here where I live, we are allowed to exercise outside for an hour daily in a 1 km radius around the house. If you are allowed to do that, go out for a walk or run, get this piled energy moving and out of your body and mind.
- Find quiet time for yourself and look into your own stuff, what is coming up for you right now? What have you blocked down through your busy life and constant occupation? When we sit in stillness, we can tap into our deepest layers of emotions which are not always the happiest but more like our shadow side. Have a look, use the time to let these layer come out while sitting, observing and moving through you, through tears, through journaling, through dancing. Find an outlet to let it move through you. Let this stored energy go.
Not everyone knows how to sit in silence or how to meditate, or just to sit with oneself, so let me give you a short breathing exercise (this process is called Zen meditation, counting the breath):
1) Find a comfortable seat, either on the floor or on a chair, spine straight.
2) If it is comfortable for you, close your eyes, if not you can also look into a candle flame
3) Connect with your breath, take three deep breaths, inhale, exhale deeply, and find the connection with your body and breath
4) Stay there and keep breathing for ten rounds, inhale, exhale, count 10, inhale, exhale, 9, inhale, exhale 8…keep counting down to 0.
5) Just take the awareness of how your breathing has changed already after this round and how your energy has calmed down
6) Repeat this for another two rounds, breathing 10 cycles down to zero.
7) Again observe how your energy has shifted
8) Now sit as long as you can and recharge yourself in this quiet energy, in this still peaceful space you have created inside of you
I hope you can bring this into your daily life, even if you just start with the three deep breaths or one cycle of breathing and counting down from ten to zero. You will find peace. You will heal. I hope we all will.
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu. May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
Sending love, strength, and gratitude to all the nurses, doctors, families in sadness and struggle. I hope you will find time for healing soon, too.
Please download a free guided meditation here that might help you to get grounded. In case you struggle, do not hesitate to contact me.
Photo credit: Photo by Dhaya Eddine Bentaleb on Unsplash