Will you take the medicine?

Initially I scoffed at this virus, dismissing it as hype. Then as a good friend and her newborn baby living in Hong Kong shared her concerns I found myself paying a little more attention. Still I thought, it’s sensationalism, and the people who feed on drama are gorging themselves on the spread of this flu.   

Then more events are cancelled, schools shut, cafes and shops are taking big measures or choosing to close and the stock market goes haywire.

It’s no longer just about the flu.

The stress and anxiety around this enters our field whether we choose to subscribe to it or not.

But we do not need to get lost in this hype.

Yes, we all need to take the precautionary measures to stop this virus spreading further than it does, choose what feels right for you while the choice is still yours, but act mindfully and from a place of responsibility and love. This means not dismissing the vulnerable as “just the elderly” – they are the wise ones, and if you are so lucky will be one of those wise woman in not so long too. And bloody hell this means stop stocking up on loo paper and non-perishables, if you are one of these people you are responding and contributing to the actual disease that is going rampant, fear.

Your option is to act from a place of fear. Or a place of love.

That requires you to lean in and to feel in to this crisis. Let the unbidden sensations and thoughts and feelings bubble forth. Embrace whatever this brings up in you: apathy, numbness, feeling blocked, a lack of flow, annoyance, worry, scarcity, what-if’s… let it be expressed and own what you feel.

This a moment in history. But you can choose how you see this and how you show up.

I am choosing to see this is a huge opportunity for shift.

How will you choose to see it?

Can you:

• See this is an opportunity for illuminating aspects of yourself?

• See this as an opportunity for change?

• See this is an opportunity to identify what ‘medicine’ you and your life has been calling for?⠀

• See this as opportunity to bring out your feminine energetic qualities, that is the most loving, creative, nurturing, feeling, connected, resourceful, community-led person that resides inside of you?

• See this as something that perhaps you’ve been asking for:  an opportunity to create more space, be less busy, take up a hobby, turn inward, practice self-care, stay home? ⠀

How do you want to show up? This is an opportunity to Reflect. Recalibrate. Regroup. ⠀

Can you choose love over fear?

If you are really feeling lost in fear first, this is okay, in fact with the media surrounding us it is no wonder. But you needn’t stay in a place of fear.

There are few things that you can do to shift.

First recognise that this fear is not serving you, and it is not serving us. Fear in itself is contagious, the people fighting over stock in the shops are feeding on the fear that is rising. Fear sends you into the flight-fight-freeze response. Your body’s resources are directed towards this response and away from other critical functions. Fear weakens our immune system (as does isolation) and negatively impacts our thinking and decision-making, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions. Fear keeps you from thriving.

Second, you need to prioritise how you feel.

This situation is unprecedented and tumultuous BUT you have the ability to choose how you show up at this time.

Use the Opportunity for Growth

Ask yourself, what are the fears that have been brought up that you are now aware of? Can’t pinpoint it? Instead feel into the sensation or the feelings that are dominant in your body as you think about the crisis. What shadow aspects can you become familiar with?

Feel the fear, and love anyway.

Identify where you can make more room for love and to be loving towards others, including your family, your friends, community, people in other countries. You choose how to do this, whether it's to verbalise gratitude, praise, help-out, connect, see beyond the veneer, share your fears & be vulnerable. Put your ego aside & be courageous enough to open your heart & express your love in your way. In practising this you experience yourself AS love.

Take responsibility for your actions, and the impact of your actions.

This can be seen in building community, supporting local, connecting with those closest to you, living in harmony with nature, natural and ethical ways of living, choosing healthy, nourishing, immune boosting diets as preventative medicine rather than relying on the western medical system to give you a pill when you are ill, slowing down and turning away from the frenzy of the go-go-go lifestyles and instead turning inward and paying attention to what matters to us.

Be loving, compassionate & nurturing towards yourself.

Feed your energy with supportive practices that keep you grounded and look after your mental, emotional and physical well being.

• Rest, go to bed an extra 15 minutes early.

• Verbalise your needs and set boundaries.

• Turn inward, meditate (try Insight timer). Get present, breathe and pause.

• Journal before bed.

• Gratitude journal, start big, then look for the smaller things.

• Get in Mother Nature, feel the sunshine and put your bare feet on the ground.

• Support your local businesses, in anyway you can. Share the love.

• Check in with your physical and online community.

• Choose vetted sources of information - not the mass media which thrives on drama and sensationalism.

• Trust, and be open to change. Remember that how you show up right now is your choice.

Check out my free Self-Help Guide available on my website for more.⠀

Pink Skies Ahead?

I see this virus as a blessing, it is not a curse. It presents great opportunity for you. It can be a catalyst for change if you allow it to be.

This is the clearing out of old energy and old systems (i.e that steeped in the patriarchy) to make way for the new.

Receive the medicine this crisis presents. This is our change to see in a new paradigm, one many of us have been asking for.