Before we write each Thursday, my friend Jenny and I meditate. Even now, with Covid-19 Stay-at-Home orders, we write and meditate together. We connect via video chat, set our timers and breathe. It grounds us before we dive into writing. I’ve been working to integrate meditation into my daily life as it brings me a sense of calm. I’m not always great at doing it, but if ever there was a time I needed it, it’s right now. Not only are there life’s normal stresses, we are all dealing with a pandemic.
A World Wide Pandemic.
When I write it out like that, it seems f’ing crazy. A thing of novels, and movies, and maybe the distant future, but not life in real time. But it is life in real time, and unfortunately, it is the world’s new reality for a while. The thought of it is unsettling and scary, but when all is said and done, for our sanity, we have to make the best of this new reality we’re living.
My family is healthy and my husband has a job, and we have food on the table, so it might be easier for me to say, than for others. But we all worry. And I think especially us moms. Being the caregivers, we want to keep everyone safe, and with the coronavirus, this foreign invader, we aren’t quiet sure how to do it. My daughter lives on the other side of the world, where I’m not allowed travel because I’m a US citizen. What if she needs her mom? My husband and I have older parents with health issues. How long until we can really be with them again, be by their sides, giving them hugs and kisses? How will we pay the mortgages on our rental houses if our tenants can’t pay? There’s a lot to worry about, and that’s when I remind myself to breathe. I remind myself that our family is healthy, and I breathe.
Which brings me back to meditation and my experience with it today. The strangest thing happened. Normally when I meditate, I try to open my mind and focus on my breathing, which rarely works if I haven’t been on a consistant schedule, so when it’s not working, like earlier today, I breathe and (in my head) say a little mantra. Now, some writers might tell you their mantra, but I’m going to keep mine to myself. What I will tell you is that it’s nothing mind blowing and it’s just six words. I breathe in on one, two and three and I breathe out on four, five and six. Simple. Well, not always, but as I started breathing, instead of the usual distraction of my back hurting and my mind wondering to my to-do list, three specific words kept floating into my mind and butting in.
Health. Earth. World. Earth. Health.
Then World Health, World Health, World Health. Soon I was breathing in on the word World, and out on the word Health, and the next thing you know, the timer dinged. “That time FLEW by,” I said to Jenny. She agreed. I wasn’t thinking about how hard it was to sit still or about the bills that needed to be paid. I just breathed WORLD HEALTH.
It felt so good, yet felt so…woo woo. So, not me. Still, I listened. Could my ten minutes of World Health meditation heal the world at a time when it really needs it? With Covid 19 and global warming ravaging this earth? Probably not, not in and of itself, but could my meditation help spread good energy? I like to think a little. Some might argue that sending that energy into the world helps a lot. Some might say focused world meditation can manifest world peace and harmony, so of course it can help world health. Whatever the case, it can’t hurt.
So, I’m sending into the world good energy and healing, and hoping to inspire others to do the same. To take a moment to see how they can live and breathe health into this world, and bring even just a moment of calm into their lives. If I could discover a vaccine for Covid-19 or invent something that removes the carbon dioxide that’s trapped in our atmosphere, that would be amazing, but I’m no scientist. But I can make good choices, and my moment of breathing world health also reminded me of how the little things are important. That little things equal big things…. Wash my hands, use social distancing, buy local, pay bills online, take a short shower, turn off the lights, recycle, reuse…
World Health. World Health. World Health.
Links on how you can help world health:
Covid-19 Prevention…
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
Help Stop Global Warming…
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ocean/earthday.html
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-you-can-stop-global-warming
