How Yoga and Meditation Can Help Cope with COVID-19

Originally published on TrustedNutrition.com

Are anxiety and stress creeping in?

Considering COVID-19, no one is escaping the underlying anxiety that is part of today’s “new normal”. Yoga and meditation are now more available than ever to help us cope.

Globally united by the coronavirus, we are being asked to sit still.

We’re being asked to be more present with ourselves and our loved ones. Both of these realities can be immensely challenging. Most of us are accustomed to non-stop action, consciously or unconsciously avoiding what is within us and sitting right beside us. Here lies our opportunity to embrace the present moment. Yoga and meditation offer the tools and techniques we need.

Yoga and meditation offer an abundance of opportunity to cultivate these skill sets to better cope with modern life. The physical yoga practice prepares our bodies to sit still in meditation. The ability to sit with oneself, and observe our thoughts, feelings and reactions is priceless. We learn to create a space between what crosses our mind and how we react. In time, we cultivate healthy neutralized responses rather than knee-jerk reactions.

What to Know Today:

1.     Creating a learning environment at home is an epic and equally challenging place to start. Now more than ever, yoga classes are readily available online for everyone. Classes for kids, prenatal offerings, mental health focused classes, and even “chair yoga” for office workers, the physically challenged and elderly, are all easily sourced. Remember, it may take time and patience to find what works for each of us.

2.     Keep in mind that yoga and meditation are both practices. Throw perfection out of the window. This is not a place for competition. There is no need to be hard on ourselves. We are human and simply must start where we are. Know that what comes up during these practices is 100% okay and may be exactly what we need to address. If anything at all becomes “too much”, back off during this strenuous time we are all now experiencing.

Within these practices, it’s normal to feel intense waves of anger or helplessness. This current pandemic is a prime example where such emotions may arise. These modalities are not about suppressing or ignoring rightful emotions and feelings. 

With healthy boundaries in place, we have every right to feel and express what is ok and not ok for us individually. Yoga and meditation are paths to creating awareness around whether our thoughts, feelings and emotions are valid. We then learn to work with our minds and allow these waves to roll by so that we can better respond during times of increased stress and anxiety.

Try this free meditation today to relax and destress.

The Mind-Body Connection

Now backed by science, our minds and bodies are proving to be inextricably linked. At times, what we are experiencing emotionally can manifest in our physical bodies. Today’s stress and anxiety can lend to our immune systems potentially functioning less than optimally. Given a healthy immune system is now more important than ever, yoga and meditation are top tactics we can employ to boost our immunity now and year-round.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America has addressed managing anxiety and isolation during the quarantine. For anyone with a history of trauma, be sure to seek out “trauma-informed” yoga classes for extra support. 

Many people dedicated to holistic health have also offered pro-bono services during this time.

Why? Because we all deserve the opportunity to live stress-free.

After all, stress is the #1 source of doctor visits today. Certainly, circumstances arise when we should be supported. However, we must also take responsibility in supporting ourselves. 

The coronavirus pandemic has presented a time to dig deep and discover our holistic health individually. Yoga and meditation support our cultivation of self-awareness. This leads to increased conscious awareness of how we all affect one another.

If you enjoyed the free meditation, find more Mind-Body Training HERE with code “JONI30” for additional support during this time. 

Let’s come together and better support ourselves so that we can better support one another in training for this “new normal” as well as life moving forward.

Set Me Free

More and more people are “waking up”. 

What does this even mean?

People are realizing they don’t exactly feel free in their own lives. While this is our birthright, managing the realities of life in these hectic modern times makes freedom feels more elusive than ever.

What a racket.

We followed the rules.

But damn if we are still not quite where we want to be. Where we were told we would be by gaining a good education, obtaining a secure job, marrying, having children, serving our communities, along with other more traditional ways of being.

Today, we are simply living in a different era. In the 1900’s, we moved from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. Now we are moving into what is more of a multisensory age or holographic era.

There are many terms coming into fruition for this “age” depending on where you choose to search. But as a holistic health practitioner, we see plenty of people moving from holistic, referencing the whole, to experiences that appear to be multi-dimensional. Stemming from the Information Age, moving at the speed of light, we will see what the future holds. For now, with so much coming at us from every direction, there is no way humans are not evolving in order to cope, for better or for worse.

This might sound a little out there. But times are changing at an ever-increasing rate. We are all being encouraged to become a lot more open to possibility, new ways of thinking, and fast-paced change, yes? Larger government and corporate structures are not keeping pace for the people, so we must become fast and light in order to move with the times. Releasing attachments to essentially all forms of security and stability is becoming not only a way to survive, but also an avenue toward living in flow with whatever is happening around us. This is how we set ourselves free.

Simplified, we find freedom in two realms.

Outer:

            • of this world, physical, material

            • homes, cars, financials, environments

            • anything we can touch and feel in everyday life

Inner:

            • the endless chatter in our minds

            • to do lists, keeping up with the Jones’, judgments, projections, blaming, etc. of ourselves and others

            • thoughts that lead to feelings, beliefs and actions that do not serve personal/professional relations

In order to be set free, we must drop current identities in some ways to allow for the next chapter to unfold. Tapping into our truths allows us to begin.

Tapping into our individual truths, we figure out what we love. Maybe we thought we knew, but often we realize something new! We discover what works for us and only us – whether that is how to re-create a career or trust the process that is true and unique to a loved one. We learn what lights us up. We ask ourselves questions. We ask other people questions. With this self-awareness, we soon understand how to stay in our own lanes and trust that everyone around us is doing the best they can. We then learn how to better relate to others. Tool and techniques to drop out of our heads and into our hearts are key. Simplified, but this is the way to set ourselves free. 

Ask me how to start this process. 

This inner freedom translates to outer freedom and vice versa. When our minds are “right”, we better create the outer worlds we desire. This, in turn, lends to supporting our inner worlds and creating more freedom. 

We have all heard the adage, “if there is one thing that is constant it is change”. In this new multi-dimensional era, it is now fast-paced change. The cool thing about this is that when we are committed to making our own shifts, they can happen quickly, too.

Tapping into tools and techniques that we can apply to each day is one way to find and/or hang on to our freedom. Ironically, we must release identities, attachments, and control – a similar hanging on – to be set free. Truly a delicate balance.

There is no one way to do it. There is no right way to do it. There is no race or competition or deadline. Other than that it is becoming very clear that we are running out of time. Let’s set one another free.

In the words of the Ram Dass, “You wake up at the rate you wake up.” 

We start where we are. Let’s start today.

Summer Lovin' with Conscious Relationships

What does "conscious relationship" mean?

Relationships are a major component of holistic health because they are one part of all parts of an integrated, whole, healthy life. Friendship. Family. Acquaintances. Intimate. Business. Creating conscious awareness within all of our relationships is key to summer lovin’ and successful lovin’ throughout the year.

What might we be pretending not to know about our relationships? 

This is a considerable conversation. But at the most basic level, what are we ignoring? What are we shying away from? Will it make our relationships better to ignore what comes up? Or will it make our lives so much sweeter by taking the time to gain tools, techniques and tricks of the trade to navigate what arises?

When confrontation occurs, or another person triggers us, it is always an opportunity to step back, take a deep breath, take a good look at ourselves, and pause before responding. Take a few minutes to put ourselves in the other’s shoes considering their position as well as our own. Of course, this is often easier said than done. Especially in that moment when we become fired up before we even realize what is happening. But with a brand new toolset, it’s surprising how quickly we can transform and diffuse many of these moments. We can more easily move from highly reactive to open, spacious and rewarding. Within our most intimate relationships is where we will be most triggered. Contrary to popular belief, this is totally normal and an opportunity to learn.

One of the ways to gain perspective is to question:

Does the other person need to be right? 

Or do they want peace? 

Do I need to be right? 

Or do I prefer peace?

Is this a topic worthy of fuss and fight?

Good chance that will negate 50% of silly stuff that comes up.

On the other hand, there is the 50% that will need time and attention.

If it seems a friend always wants “his way”, how can we take a look at this within ourselves? If a client insists on billing top dollar within her own business, but is unwilling to pay top dollar for another’s work, is it wise to continue this relationship? If one’s expectations of what will be received in a relationship are different from what is given, how can we place ourselves within the other’s perspective and decide from their point of view if what’s occurring is fair, just, or if it even makes sense? Perhaps a few places to begin in becoming more conscious within our relationships.

Relationships are one of the most complex elements of life. 

It is important to be in them. It is equally important to spend time away from them. But within them is where we really get into the nitty gritty of our own shadows and truths. We can run, but without resolve, we will run right back into the same shadow around the next bend. We must cultivate being open and vulnerable within them. It’s imperative to realize when we shy away from them or are unable to make space from them and why. All of this may sound painfully obvious, but it’s funny how when we are “in it” it’s very hard to see our own blind spots. We all have ‘em. Taking even just small pockets of time to sit still for five minutes and take inventory could prevent an awful lot of drama. The amount of time and energy saved? Priceless.

A general rule of thumb is that it is safe to assume that both parties deeply desire a peaceful existence.

We can start by assuming that everyone is doing their best from exactly where they are today. This is only the beginning. Keeping this mindset in place is the gateway to more conscious ways of relating. It doesn’t mean we will get it right every time. It doesn’t mean we have to be nice and uplifting to every single human we encounter as there is no balance nor boundaries in that either. We might only get it right 50% of the time. And it’s all ok.

Blind spots. We all have ‘em. We can all take steps to build tool kits to evolve further into developing more conscious relationships. Talk to me if this speaks to you, too.