The Retreat No One Wanted to Attend

Good day to all.

I have been reflecting the last few weeks about how I can share with you my thoughts about the impact of the pandemic on our lives. First, honestly, I had to struggle to find my own balance of sorts, to have daily reality dissolve my disbelief and my feeling that I am in a Netflix series. Well, some days I still feel like I am in a dystopian series. This is the retreat no one wanted to attend.
 
How do we tend to ourselves body, mind and soul during this? All of us have different resources that support us. Let’s first just admit this is tumultuous. We have no control over the virus. And we have never ever experienced a time like this. It is a steep learning curve for us all.
 
First thing to remember: We are all in this together.
 
Our hearts are one… just 6 feet or more apart.
 
It is a time to be very, very gentle with ourselves. The disbelief and shock maybe have diminished a bit since it started. The helplessness, tedium and fear about many things will all collide in us and want our attention some days.
 
Some of you have family and/or friends who will be or have been stricken with this. We might become virus victims ourselves.
 
For those of us with established types of traditional spiritual practices such as meditation and prayer this is the PhD-level challenge to demonstrate application and practice.
 
Taking care of our physical needs with nutrition and exercise are no less a deep practice. Do what you can. I know we all have suggestions and advice from many sources these last weeks.
 
sheltering in place….
 
We are still in the middle of our sheltering in place, so we still have many unknowns these coming weeks.
 
We live in different environments through this: Some are alone, some with partners, children and other family members. What we all have the same is that we must stay in place and watch all of our concepts about everything arise as we do not have our usual distractions and activities.
 
Everything we have had planned for the most part is on hold right now. Some of you, like me, work remotely through the phone and internet. Some of us have a semblance of the same order in our daily lives.
 
Even with this I find I feel a heaviness over the very Earth carried by all our fellow beings around the planet. Sometimes the weight of the heaviness, sadness and dullness is too much, and I try to remember it is the very atmosphere I am sharing with all, not just me, and redirect my mind and spirit. Remember this about yourselves, also.
 
a global invitation…
 
The virus was created by us. We made the world in which this virus was unleashed and through which it wreaks havoc on all our lives. We have taken relentlessly from the Earth with no regard for consequences. Now we have to listen and hopefully we will change tremendously in how we live our lives, after all this winds down
 
Please know it will end. With global cooperation life will slowly get back to an equilibrium, whatever that will be after this time. Please do not fall down the disaster rabbit hole. Please do not feed the negative messages and energy that makes this even worse for all of us. There is always a continuum. Nothing stays the same.
 
Absolutely this is a global invitation from Earth to stop focusing on differences and discord with each other. One planet, that’ s it. We can have all our separate cultural differences, but we need to take care of our host, Mother Earth, as one. She does not need us, we need her.
 
What we will not be able to change are the lives that are lost and how people will be impacted forever by the consequences of the virus and collateral damage in our lives.  Please remember that you have been through losses and trauma before and thought you would never feel right again. If you have been spared that, learn that resilience from others.
 
amazing people inspire and teach us…
 
Remember amazing people. Some may be your family, friends, colleagues, or teachers.  Others may be iconic models such as Rosa Parks, Florence Nightingale, Susan B Anthony, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, Emmeline Pankhurst, the Dalai Lama, Bishop Tutu, Martin Luther King, Thich Nhat Hanh. They all model deeds, not just words. There are thousands of courageous people throughout history who have lived through times of upheaval and loss that is unimaginable. They continue to inspire us. We are living through an unimaginable time. They teach us.
 
Some of these days will be mundane. Some will be inspired. Some will be heartbreaking. That is our world now.
 
When you can: Eat well, exercise, meditate, and read inspirational material even a little bit every day. Decide how much news is too much news. Watch and read things that are inspiring and happy. Sit outside. We do not have to be doing something all the time.
 
Be kind to each other and yourself.
 
When it is too much; Stop, close your eyes and focus on your breath even for 30 seconds. Go out into your garden, look at something beautiful. Take a walk if you can. Let the deep part of you arise that knows to keep breathing.
 
Be well…inside and out….and do not forget we are in this together.
 
With loving support always,

Cynthia