Fear, self-isolation and the Coronavirus
With the map of the Coronavirus spreading far and wide across the globe, our international community finds itself in the grips of something terrifyingly new to our lifetimes. Perpetuated by relentless Coronavirus media hype, which plays to our hard-wired negativity bias to hold us in a state of fear, its fair to say that anxieties are running deep. With business facing closure and the health of our treasured relatives at risk there’s a dark nightmarish undertone running throughout our days. Filled with insecurities and unknowing.
As we try to be good citizens to help protect those more vulnerable in our society and halt the spread of COVID-19, the very support structures that hold us together as collective energy are fragmenting. Social clubs, education, exercise classes, catching up with friends in a cafe or bar, all off the menu for the foreseeable future. Retreating to the supposed safety of our homes, we isolate into a world of spinning thoughts, fear and uncertainty.
It’s time to communicate over isolate
Let’s consider the implications that self-isolating from the Coronavirus can have. Sat at home in a state of inertia, continually being bombarded with armageddon like media coverage and filled with angst about loved ones, work and meeting bills. The World is heading for a state of mental health emergency!
Self-isolation may be inevitable, but it’s paramount to our collective wellbeing that this isolation is just in a physical one. Now more than ever is a time to reach out to your community and communicate. Voice your worries and fears so that others can respond with support. Share the coronavirus jokes and funny videos, so that we can laugh in the face of adversity. Relay positive health advice for self-care, both mental and physical, so that we can all keep calm and well.
The internet and the Coronavirus
But amid a crazy modern pandemic, there is a beacon that can hold us together as one world energy united. The perfect tool for building community and staying connected. A platform in which people can express themselves freely and creatively. The internet, in its positive incarnation, is proving to be a platform for solidarity and innovation amidst the Corona chaos.
Whilst the media continues to bombard us with sensationalist reports of empty shelves, the international community is spreading signs of humanity and empathy via the world wide web. Sharing and streaming content to inspire, assist or amuse, people are reaching out to one another in an unparalleled fashion. From musicians offering livingroom concerts to fitness and wellbeing classes streamed directly to your homes, innovation and creation are unfolding at the rate of knots.
For accessible yoga classes for your whole household, join the Ocean Flow Fitness Online Studio via Patreon.
Stay connected to your community throughout the (COVID-19) pandemic
As I sat the other evening chatting online to friends in Spain, Australia, Canada and the UK about how the Coronavirus was affecting them, I was struck by how lucky I felt. I’m so grateful to be able to reach out to an international support network with such freedom and ease. In what was fast becoming a splintered modern world, the current backlash of kindness, compassion and community are breaking down the walls that we were building around ourselves. Love knows no boundaries and has no borders. Love, like water, will always find a way through.
So in these unsettled times ahead, let’s allow these walls of isolation and segregation that we’ve been building around ourselves, to come down. Let’s continue to dismantle the ingrained conditioning of us and them that we’ve been sold for too long now. Reach out to each other in any way you can. Support each other’s vulnerabilities as opposed to pray on them. Try to be a positive part of something far bigger than yourself. We may need to be staying at home for the moment, confined by the physical parameters of our space. But now more than ever is a time to reach out and communicate, not isolate!
For the latest updates on protecting yourself from the coronavirus go the the World Health Organisation website.
