As we all are experiencing this time of uncertainty, I wanted to write an article that would offer a few ways to find calm in the chaos of the Coronavirus. I’ve spent days fidgeting with this intro and the words just aren’t flowing like they usually do.
I realized that now more than ever is the time to be patient with myself and I feel like that’s part of the message here. So in honor of being patient with ourselves, here is the article, with a perhaps less profound introduction than normal.
My hope for you is that you stay patient with yourself and honor where you are. It’s ok to be scared! It’s ok if this feels really hard, because IT IS!
Looking at this experience from a spiritual perspective
If we think about what happens during illness, we know that we have to slow down. The body makes us rest. You take care of your body and nourish it back to health.
Being in quarantine is similar. We are being forced to to slow down. We can’t go out so there is nothing left to do but go inward. This can be really scary and overwhelming, especially if you’ve not done that before.
I view this crisis as a reset. A time for all of us to slow down and connect to what really matters.
It can also be thought of as a sort of spiritual cleansing. What can we get rid of in our daily lives that isn’t serving us? How can we better take care of ourselves? How can we be of service?
10 ways to find Calm in the chaos
1. Ground yourself
When we enter a fear or panic state, most of us leave our bodies. It’s very important to ground yourself to bring your spirit back into your body so that you can invite in calm and centering. Some ideas for grounding are:
-put your bare feet on the earth, either in dirt, grass or sand.
-visualize roots coming out from your feet and into the earth. breathe in energy from mother earth through those roots and into your body.
2. Commit to self care
Now is the time to take care of yourself. Your body and spirit are craving self care. Make a list of some simple activities that you enjoy and that calm you and relieve stress. Commit to doing at least TWO of these activities every single day.
A few of my favorites are:
-painting
-gardening
-cooking
-yoga
-journaling
-writing
-taking a hot shower
-using aromatherapy
3. Move your body
When you move your body, you get out of your head and back into your body. Exercise is an excellent stress reliever, too! Some ideas for movement are:
-walking
-yoga
-swimming
-tai chi
-hiking
-dancing
-gardening
4. Work on your root chakra
The root chakra is all about survival. It is the tribe energy, safety, and being connected to to the earth. It’s quite literally what connects us to our physical reality.
In times of social unrest, we fear for our safety. Unsureness causes fear and all of this causes our root chakras to become out of balance and diminished.
We need to cleanse and bolster this chakra to help the energetic and physical body know that everything is ok and we can get out of fight or flight.
To cleanse the root chakra:
Call in your guides and angels to help you. Close your eyes and imagine a ball of divine white light sitting at your crown. On an inhale, breathe this white light through your body and down to your root chakra (at the base of the spine). See the white light spinning in your root chakra and clearing any blockages or muddy spots.
To Bolster your root chakra:
Now imagine the color of your root chakra becoming redder and more vibrant. See it spinning and a healthy size (not too small, not too big). Think “seal” and thank your guides and angels.
5. Be in Nature
When you are in nature, it has the ability to take your mind of your worries. It helps us to connect to the present moment. Also, vitamin d is so so good for our immune systems! Being in nature also helps the root chakra by connecting us to mother earth.
6. Meditate
Meditation helps us to connect to our own inner stillness. This takes us out of fight or flight and puts us back into a parasympathetic state, relieving stress and allowing us to make good decisions and improve our mood, just to name a few.
For beginners: close your eyes and start by focusing on your breath. I like to inhale for 4, pause, and exhale for 4. Gradually I increase my counts to 7 or 8. Then let go of the counting and just observe your thoughts.
No one can get rid of their thoughts completely, but you can observe them, thank them for coming, and then go back to your breath. Start with just 5 minutes a day and try to work up to 20 minutes.
7. Don’t engage with the Fear
When enough people have the energy of fear, its like a snowball effect. The energy gets bigger and bigger and it FEEDS negativity, like the coronavirus itself.
It is ok to have fear, absolutely! But whenever possible, ask yourself, is this my fear? Am I really scared? Or am I getting sucked into the fear collective?
As much as possible, avoid negative social media (or all social media, if necessary), the media, and any negative friends or family members. I try to limit my social media and I absolutely do not engage with the media. I stay updated on necessary information from trusted sources and my husband 🙂
8. Use EFT to clear negative emotions
The Emotional Freedom Technique is one of my favorite things I use to clear negative emotions and help me feel better. It’s fast acting and easy to do.
This technique is also known as Tapping. When you use this technique, you tap along meridian points that are able to access the amygdala. You focus on a negative feeling that you are experiencing, like fear.
As you tap you keep feeling this negative feeling. Within a few minutes, your acceptance of this feeling will start to move into you being able to resolve it. By tapping into your fight or flight system, you are able to replace those negative feelings and responses into neutral or positive ones.
If you’ve not done eft before, I recommend following along with a video on youtube like this one. I also love using the Tapping Solutions app.
9. Journal
Journaling is a wonderful tool that helps with processing emotions. Often times we can connect easily to our inner wisdom while journaling. Whenever you can connect to your center, it brings you out of fear and into trust.
I’ve been using a technique taught by Gabby Bernstein for setting the tone for my days (cause they are all starting to blur together…). She says ask yourself 4 questions everyday:
How do I want to feel today?
Who do I want to be today?
How do I want to receive today?
How do I want to give today?
10. Bring it back to Gratitude
Being in a state of gratitude automatically means that you cannot be in a state of fear or worry. The vibrations are just not compatible. So if all else fails, simply be in gratitude.
I like to write down or ay aloud 10 things I am grateful for everyday. Picking a time of day to do this to build into your routine is easy. Say your gratitude to yourself while in the shower or state to God during prayer. Really feel how this gratitude makes you feel.
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I hope these 10 grounding exercises give you a few ideas on how to keep your calm in the chaos. Remember to go easy on yourself during this time and know that you are not alone!
I would love to hear how you all are doing and what you are using to cope with stress, leave a comment below 🙂
