Getting Friendly with the Unknown

The enormity of this global moment hits when we learn that in Jerusalem, the church of the Holy Sepulchre (above) had to close its doors due to a pandemic for the second time ever this week.  The first time it was locked for this reason – using the same key – was in 1349, during the Bubonic Plague.

A full surrender is the key to fully accepting this global crisis.  It requires a molting, a shedding of expectations.  It’s a forced stay-in-the-moment experience.  I know many people are experiencing horrific loss and fear about the future. The only remedy we have is to fully accept what is. Look around.  We are a lot less fragile than we think.   Once we accept, we have to name our feelings and it may be grief for all that is lost.   We are forced to reckon with not knowing much of anything.   It is heartbreaking and there is no way around it.  Here are eight ideas:

1. Name and allow feelings: A primal scream, ugly cry, whack the bed with the tennis racquet, and/or talk to a good listener- it we don’t own how we feel, the feelings own us and often come out sideways.
2. Take on-line yoga classes:
3. Watch an interview with Dr. Viktor Frankl on the freedom of choice. This is not to diminish what you are going through, but to hear how he got through indescribable hardship.
4. Learn how to regulate your thoughts: Meditation in an emergency:  Why we need to regulate our minds- and what we allow to grow  by my favorite meditation teacher
5. Experiment: Intermittent fasting, plant-based eating, a creative project, work up to 100 push-ups a day, 30 minutes of news a day, etc.
6. Endlessly fun distraction: Quarantine Karaoke: Everything that is good and funny as America sings in their pajamas. The diversity is spellbinding.   Can’t get enough.
7. Consider a free workshop for your team/work-group from the School of Wellness:

Speaking with people all over the country this week, it’s clear that no one has been able to escape the difficulty and uncertainty stemming from our current global crisis. If anybody could use a skilled coach to enter your team, classroom or work-group,  send me an email with a phone number to discuss the situation and how we can customize the session(s) to help your team    We are offering our services via ZOOM for no charge to any group that might benefit.  Topics could include:

• • How to manage your anxiety (or the anxiety of others)
  • How to take care of the self during confinement
  • How to run a household on lockdown

8. Check out my favorite podcasts and documentaries.

Stay well, and kind and wash your hands like your life depends on it,  Eileen