Practicing Mindfulness During the Pandemic…
It’s so easy to get caught up in all the frantic energy and frustration during a pandemic such as COVID-19, which has affected the entire world. Governments are shutting down borders and businesses and mandating rules that border on the ridiculous.
If you’re trying to make sense of their contradictory rules, you’ll only get annoyed and angry – but there’s very little you can do. They may tell you to wear a mask when ordering food, but you’re allowed to remove it when dining. If you’re furious about these insane rules, you’re missing the point.
The government is just as clueless and throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Your goal should be to extricate yourself and be ABOVE THE NOISE so that you’re relatively calm amidst the chaos.
The best way to do this is with mindfulness.
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Apply Mindfulness To Your Daily Life
Always be aware that your energy is finite and should only be expended on what you can control. Monitor what triggers you. We all have our buttons, but it’s usually the same issues that aggravate us. They may come disguised, but the underlying characteristics will be the same.
For example, if you feel like wearing a mask is pointless when you’re out because the rule is applied haphazardly and there’s no proof that it even works – you may be right and highly annoyed to wear one when you go out.
But you’re bound by the laws of the state or country you’re in. In this case, you know what the trigger is, so you’ll need to mindfully avoid putting yourself in a situation where you need to don a mask to go out. This might prevent you from getting riled up.
Another way you may get annoyed is when you’re scrolling through social media and you see news about people ranting about social distancing but are also encouraging protests and rallies. This contradiction may be missed by them, but you’re aware of it and it annoys you.
Once again, mindfulness is about asking yourself why you’re feeling this way and how you can stop it. Avoiding social media or severely limiting it might have a positive effect on you.
When you’re mindful of your daily life, you need to know what is with your control and what’s not. You can only effect change in your life when things are within your control. If you’re stressing out over situations that are beyond your control, it will not only be an exercise in futility, but you’ll only adversely impact your physical and mental health.
Make peace with yourself and try to let go of what you can’t control. Acceptance will free you from the chains of misery which keep you tied down to the weight of the inevitable. You don’t need to understand everything. Sometimes you just need to accept what you can’t control.
If you miss going to the gym because it’s locked down due to the virus, you may be angry because your fitness is slipping and you’ve paid money for the membership too.
But you can’t control this… so you’re better off mindfully accepting the situation and figuring out how you can make things better. You might decide to start learning calisthenics at home and get fit with it.
Learning or trying something new will usually have a positive effect on your mind. New goals excite people.
If you’re worried about getting laid off from your job, don’t panic incessantly. Instead be mindful and ask yourself what other alternatives you have. Start exploring them right away. This action will give you hope rather than wringing your hands and clutching your pearls out of fear – but not doing anything to help yourself.
Practicing meditation will help to calm your mind. So, will long walks where you appreciate nature and feel a sense of gratitude for what you have. Gratitude journaling works wonders. Practice all of these mindfully. And remember to check out the Insight Timer. It’s free and it will make it an absolute breeze to start your meditation practice.
Instead of stressing out over how the pandemic has changed your life and made things troublesome, do look for the silver lining to this cloud. You’ll definitely find opportunities for you to improve your life. You just need to look for them.
Set new goals that are achievable during the pandemic, and focus your full attention on attaining them. Be mindful of all that you do. And keep your energy and your vibe high.
Happiness is found in progress… and progress can always be made no matter what the situation is. So, seek to improve in small increments daily and once the whole madness of the pandemic ends, you’ll be more skilled and have made more progress than you ever expected.
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Jon Kabat-Zinn