A New Normal: Thankfulness And Meditation

A funny COVID moment this morning, when I woke up and had to concentrate really, really hard to remember what day of the week it was. Wednesday as it turns out!

Things I've been thankful for over the last few days-

• Being able to see the ocean from my home. It's so vast, and so beautiful, and my heart skips a beat every time I see it, even after three years of living here.
• The sights and sounds of nature. I've heard a barn owl hooting several mornings in a row this week, and there is a Nuttall's woodpecker working on a tree next door. The woodpecker in particular is giving me many moments of delight, even as my neighbor is considerably less enthused. 🤣

  

  
  

• Zoom video conferencing. We purchased the $14.99 monthly level subscription, and it has been an absolute lifeline for this extrovert. We've already spent many wonderful hours visiting with family and friends over the last few weeks, and it has been almost as nice as being together in person. This Easter Sunday we will be doing a supper time Zoom with our daughters and their families, with everyone placing their devices on their respective dining room tables as we all sit down to eat together. 
• Daily walks with my husband. We live in a very hilly coastal area, so we have lots of challenging up and down walks and hikes we are able to do from our home, with endless views as we do so. We currently have snow covered peaks we can see to the east, the ever changing ocean to the west, our many canyons are now a vibrant green due to recent rains, and the spring yellow-purple-orange wildflowers of mustard, lupin and poppy are just beginning to appear.

My daily goal list has been a tremendous benefit, grounding me each day, so that I have goals to focus on rather than swirling down an endless hole of depressing news stories. My husband and I continue to do what we can to ensure we remain healthy, so I need to continue to let go of the things that are currently beyond my ability to control. And you know what ? It's absolutely OK to find joy in our days in spite of the terrible things that are happening. As my go-to emotional health guru Eckart Tolle says, 'We have to take care of things, absolutely, but we don't have to be miserable, to worry, and to stress as we do so.'

Along those lines, daily meditation has been of tremendous help. Recently our spiritual congregation put out a helpful guideline for beginning meditation, which I've been using with success. I share it here for those of you also looking for meditation guidance:

Meditation can be a useful tool to cope with anxiety. One of the main objectives in meditation is to reduce anxiety by stopping the internal monologue, the labeling and the judging of things in your mind. By stopping the flow of words you can begin to simply experience sensations. 

Here are three basic tools for meditation you might experiment with to get started:

Body scan 

You have probably done something similar to this n a guided meditation. But you don’t need anyone to coach you through it. In a body scan, find a comfortable position, ideally lying down. Focus your awareness either at the top of your head or the tips of your tows and VERY slowly move that awareness across the length of your body. Notice the smallest possible details. Is there stress in your jaw? Are you inclined to smile? Are you eyes relaxed behind your closed eyelids? Where there is tension, try to relax that area. Where there is pain, practice compassion for yourself. Where there is pleasure or comfort, pause to notice and enjoy the sensation. A body scan helps us reconnect with the physical sensations of our body, to be in the present moment, and focus the mind on something other than the internal monologue.  

Pay attention to breathing

By far the simplest form of meditation, and my favorite is to pay attention to your breathing. It may help to consciously deepen and slow down your breath. For longer sessions of meditation you can simply pay attention to the natural flow of your breath. Notice the sensations in your body and experience a sense of flow. Meditation on breathing can be done for 20 seconds, taking just a few deep cleansing breaths, or you can do it for half an hour. The other great thing about breathing meditation is your an do it anywhere. This isn’t such a concern now, but when we return to our normal lives, you can focus on your breath sitting on an airplane, at your desk, in the grocery store checkout line. You can do it anywhere without drawing attention to yourself. 

Mantras 

Mantras are especially useful when your mind is really racing. A mantra is a short phrase that you repeat over and over in your mind. Often they align with your breathing so it connects with the exercise of paying attention to your breath. Some examples include: Breath in peace, breathe out love.

Right here right now, I am safe. Let go, restore. There is a virtually endless list of mantras that you can use to refocus your mind on a simple affirmative thought. Brain science tells us that simply saying to ourselves that we are safe, dramatically reduces the chemicals associated with anxiety. 

Today's A New Normal Goals

1. Body (health and fitness)  Squeeze in a six mile walk to the beach and back in between expected rainstorms, homemade blueberry muffins snack break at the beach midway.
2. Mind and Emotions (psychology and beliefs)  1) Re-read Chapter One of A New Earth by Eckhard Tolle. (Pushed for days, oof!), 2) Do a Body Scan Meditation session from above.
3. Relationships (spousal/significant other)  Focus on the positive relationship aspects that have surfaced during our Shelter In Place time together during our above walk to the beach. We're both rising to the occasion we are discovering!
4. Family  Play around with Zoom in order to learn how to display photos of a book for my granddaughter look at via the Share Screen function, while I read the text aloud to her.
5. Intellect/Learning Watch an Art History lecture on Cezanne that my art teacher posted to You Tube.
6. Social/Fun  Zoom with friends after dinner tonight, Zoom video date number #10 I think? Losing count, which is a very good thing!
7. Money/Finances  1) Contact the Pacific Symphony ticket office to reschedule their just-cancelled May concerts, 2) Notify our travel insurance company that we wish to take advantage of their offer to reschedule our Spain 2020 travel plans into 2021, 3) Rebook our airline-cancelled April flights to November at Thanksgiving instead.

How are you coping where you are?