One breath at a time

As I sit here watching the news unfold about Coronavirus, heaviness weighs on my chest, I want to stay eating ice cream in my bed pretending this is not really happening and it’s just a bad dream. Chocolate will make it all better, won’t it? Not this time. And so I breathe. Count my inhales. Count my exhales. Let’s put that meditation practice I have been teaching to work. 

Today the sky was a gorgeous blue and the leaves on the trees so fresh after recent rain. You would not think the world was in disarray looking at the sky. I feel fatigued. And yet I realise, what I feel is a drop in the ocean to what the earth feels. What Mother Earth must be feeling. This Earth is pissed off. She is tired. She is fed up. She is out of balance. There is only so much one being can take. She has warned us, and like a disobedient child, we have ignored with a devil may care attitude. Life is for living. What if life is not only for living…but for loving the living. I can’t help but think she has spoken. Repeatedly. And we have ignored. Repeatedly. As Coronavirus sweeps the world, we are listening now. 

What is the lesson here? The lessons that come through for me are around caring.

More care. More love. This Earth is teaching us to give a damn. 

To care for our planet. 

To care for our people. 

To care for our animals. 

To care. 

To look up from our phones and to see the fragility of life and see we are not bullet proof or immortal. To open our eyes to people in our community who are vulnerable. Our homeless. Not homeless in a far flung exotic country. Here…in this country. In the local community. We are being taught to look up and see our elderly. Our kids. Our people with compromised immune systems. This virus is reminding us to remember our fragile, remote and at-risk communities. To help our neighbouring island nations that don’t have the same health infrastructure as Australia. To look up and support each other instead of riding solo.  

Coronavirus can feel frightening. It’s real and it’s here now.  People are sick. People are dying. People are fighting about toilet paper. People are losing their jobs and small businesses are desperately working to keep doors open, operating with the economy moving forward. As we collectively muddle our way through this, my feeling is it may well have to get worse before it gets better.

Right when I feel like I can’t breathe, that anxiety may take hold of my lungs and I may sink into the countless Coronavirus articles, videos and podcasts available, I remember this: 

• The Italians in Venice can see fish though clear water in the canals after years without.
• The Chinese are breathing cleaner air because of the virus and closure of production sites.
• The incredible committed medical professionals are working locally and globally incredibly hard to keep us all safe and healthy.
• Our farmers are working hard to feed us.
• There are local neighborhood groups banding together to support people who are short on products and unable to leave their house.
• Yoga teachers who are offering free online yoga classes.
• Meditation teachers sharing with such love online.
• Prayer groups available.
• People are supporting each other via mobile, phone, screen time as countries move into social distancing and isolation.
• Emergency services are working to keep people safe and well, even during a pandemic.

I remember and I realise we are all in this together. I want to pass onto my crew reading this now (i.e. you) to have faith. This too shall pass. The world does not always give you what you want…it gives you what you need and put simply, the environment is demanding respect plus time to heal. Even if it has come through in the form of a virus. I truly believe the universe has your back even when it can feel overwhelming.

One day, one step, one moment, one breath at a time.

With love,

Roxy xo