Welcome to Wanderball.
How are you doing?
We're here to keep you company and to help you use this time to create a new habit of mindfulness.
Here's why.
There are some entirely selfish reasons.
Anxiety over the coronavirus only reduces our immune system.
Instead,
We want to use mindfulness as a proven tool for boosting immunity and reducing stress.
But there's another reason too.
And that is because calm is contagious.
Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Han has been quoted speaking about Vietnamese refugee boats being rocked by storms or attacked by pirates.
He said,
If everyone panicked,
All would be lost.
But if even one person on the boat remained calm and centered,
It was enough.
It showed the way for everyone to survive.
So good on you.
You're here giving yourself the tools to stay cool.
And that will make a difference for all the people you interact with.
In person,
Online,
Or in other ways.
Your calm can be an anchor for your family,
Friends,
And coworkers in a stormy sea.
So let's dive in.
What is mindfulness exactly?
And how does it help us stay calm,
Even when the world is going nuts?
Mindfulness is a very simple practice of paying attention to the present moment.
When we're stressed or anxious,
Our body is in fight or flight mode.
This basically hijacks the brain.
And we lose contact with the part of our brain that is logical and makes good decisions.
That's perfect when you're fighting a tiger.
And you have to make fast instinctual movements.
But your body's fight or fight mechanism is not going to save you from coronavirus.
We need to ask our nervous systems to chill out a bit.
And we need to reconnect with our prefrontal cortex to make good decisions.
You can think of it as good mental hygiene.
So that you're doing your bit not to allow anxiety to go viral.
So let's try a few techniques for being here and now.
Because right here,
Right now,
Is usually the safest place we can be.
Fear and anxiety are almost always worries about the future or ruminations on the past.
Let's start with some long deep breaths.
Focusing on the breath is one of the most common mindfulness techniques.
And that's because your breath is always with you.
It's a place you can always go to anchor your attention.
Take a deep breath in to the count of five.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And then exhale to the count of five.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
As you exhale,
Let the tension in your body go out with it.
Let's do a few more.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And again,
Breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Nice.
Another way to connect with the present is to tune into your senses.
So let's start with sound.
Pull your attention in to focus on sounds.
My voice,
The music,
And anything else you can hear.
Great.
This is easy,
Right?
Now let's sense shift to sight.
First,
Focus on something far away,
Across the room or out the window.
You got it?
Okay.
Now shift your focus to something very close.
That's it.
And finally,
Something in the middle of those two spots.
We can keep going.
When you tune your mind into your sense of touch,
What can you notice?
Where do you feel your body in contact with the floor or chair?
Can you take note of the texture of your clothes on your skin?
Or the temperature of the air?
Now breathe in through your nose.
What can you smell?
Our senses connect us with the here and now.
And by taking the time to do this,
We give our nervous system a chance to recover.
We're also building up pathways in the brain that reduce unhelpful,
Repetitive rumination and better equip us to become contagious calm.
One day at a time.
Thanks for being here.
