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Last weekend we focused on self-care during Covid 19. This
weekend we shall focus specifically on the stress and anxiety related to Covid,
and the physical, mental and spiritual strategies that can help us cope with
them.
With the growing data emerging on the lasting physical, mental and emotional consequences of Covid, it is likely that our stress and anxiety levels would be rising higher and higher. The prolonged exposure to stress arising from the crisis is likely to have insidious long‐term health effects including increased risk of physical (e.g., respiratory, cardio-vascular, neurological, reproductive) and mental (e.g., depression, anxiety and post‐traumatic stress, impaired cognitive function) disorders. These effects are likely to remain long after the pandemic ends and the lockdown measures lifted.
At the core of all these conditions lies elements of one of
the most basic and primal human emotions--fear. In the case of the COVID pandemic,
this fear is inextricably tied to feelings of helplessness and the loss of a
fundamental sense of safety, security, financial stability, and the ability to
envision a brighter future. Fear of infection in the presence of others, of
contact with contaminated surfaces, and of passing too close to another human
being evokes an increasingly familiar mistrust of others, avoidance, and
withdrawal from everyday activities, thereby shrinking and constraining
opportunities for essential human contact and social support, vitally necessary
for adaptive functioning. All this leads to increasing levels of stress and
anxiety.
There are specific physical, mental and spiritual strategies we can use
to cope with this rising stress and anxiety.
Healing Through Breath
From ancient times breath has been used as a powerful tool for calming oneself.
Doing some mindful (slow, focused) breathing affects our parasympathetic
nervous system and calms us down and makes us feel more in control.
Abdominal, deep breathing is especially helpful. We take in the breath through our nostrils, hold it for a few seconds, and breathe out through our mouth. Make the exhale, that is, out-breath much longer than the inhale, the in-breath. Pay attention to the pause between the exhale and the inhale. Try to empty out the breath completely in the exhalation before inhaling again. Rounding our lips to create very small opening through which to exhale makes the exercise even more beneficial. After a while notice how the breathing is affecting our body and mind. Stay for a while with whatever we are experiencing.
Mental Approach
Our beliefs about Covid and its effects
play an important role on our capacity to cope effectively with stress and
mitigate its maladaptive outcomes. Many models of stress suggest that stress
appraisals and mindsets are central to determining whether our responses to
stressors are adaptive or maladaptive. When we appraise the stress situation as
challenging, that is, offering opportunities for growth, as opposed to
threatening, we are able to cope more effectively. This approach is
particularly effective in contexts where the source of stress cannot be
avoided, as in the case of Covid. So, reframing our beliefs and attitudes,
seeing opportunities in the Covid pandemic rather than dangers, will reduce our
stress levels and help us cope better.
Are you experiencing the Covid situation as threatening or challenging? What opportunities can you find in the Covid lockdown?
Healing Through Meditation and Prayer
Meditation and contemplative prayer have a calming effect on us and can
heal us. The simplest and easiest, and yet a very effective form of meditation,
is to simply sit quietly and focus on our breath. We don’t need to do any kind
of deep or slow breathing. Simply be aware of our breath and the breath will do
what it needs to do. When our mind wanders away from the focus on breath we gently
return to it and keep returning. This will calm us down, relax and refresh us.
Doing it even for short spells during the day, will reduce our anxieties and
depressive feelings.
We can also turn this simple meditation into a prayer. Instead of
focusing on our breath, we focus on the Divine (whichever way we understand it)
dwelling within us. We simply sit in the loving awareness of this Divine
presence within us. When our mind wanders away, we gently return to the loving
awareness of the Divine within us, and keep doing this over and over again as
distractions are inevitable. Thinking of
a simple monosyllabic word that has for us some association to the Divine (like
the name we give it, or words like love, joy, peace etc.) can serve as a
vehicle that takes us back into the loving awareness of the Divine. The deep relaxation
this attention creates combined with the experience of the unconditionally
loving divine presence, can activate healing mechanisms within us.
Loving
Kindness Meditation
Loving Kindness Meditation is a technique used to increase
feelings of warmth and caring for self and others. It consists of turning
positive emotions (e.g., love, warmth, compassion) towards oneself, loved ones,
other humans, and ultimately to all living beings. During Loving Kindness Meditation,
we sit quietly with eyes closed, focus on our heart, think about a person who
loves us very much being near us and experience that person’s love filling our
heart with warmth. We now think of more and more such loving people around us
sending us love and warmth. We feel our heart filling and overflowing with this
love. We now send this love to people whom we know and love, and gradually to
people all over the world and then to all living creatures in the universe,
wishing them health, happiness and wellbeing. We remain in this experience of receiving
and giving love for a while, and take a few slow breaths before we open our
eyes.
Doing the Loving Kindness Meditation, even for short periods, is a useful tool during the COVID pandemic and other stressful times because of its many psychological and spiritual benefits. It relieves self-pity, sooths fear and anxiety, reduces depression, dissolves anger, and negates feelings of isolation and aloneness in coping with adversity. It enhances positive emotions such as love, warmth, empathy, joy, gratitude, hope and positive feelings toward others. Loving Kindness Meditation enables us to remain calm and peaceful not only when we engage in it, but throughout the day. The overall effect is increase in our emotional wellbeing and overall life satisfaction.
These physical, mental and spiritual strategies have been practised by Jesus of Nazareth in his healing ministry. He reached out and touched people, he breathed on them wishing them peace. He invited people to reframe their beliefs and attitudes. He loved people and invited them to abide in his love as he abides in his Father’s love. He exhorted them to reach out in love to others just as he reached out to them in love….
Whether we practise the healing tools presented in this
podcast or not, we can focus on the presence of this loving and compassionate
Jesus with us, reaching out to us in love, embracing us warmly and filling our heart
with love and compassion. We can then visualize ourselves reaching out to
others with love and compassion, thus filling the universe with healing energies,
which can also positively affect those infected by Covid and bring them healing
and peace…..
Have a pleasant and love-filled weekend. Bye for now.
Jose Parappully, PhD
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