This is not Love in the Time of Cholera; it’s LOVE in the time of pandemic.

Welcome to my first blog, ever. My interests range broadly, but there is underlying connection. Enjoy!

In a time of stress, what do you do? That’s a personal question, right? Do you rage against the machine, pray, walk in nature, blame others, complain? Everyone is different, but this “call to arms” time we find ourselves in would be best served if we help one another and ourselves. We may not be convening, for myriad reasons, but we still need each other. We can neither fall into fear nor put our heads in the sand.

Let’s be blunt. Many are suffering, many need help. Trained health care professionals work hard to protect us. Not a trained health care professional? Don’t feel you count? Of course, you do. We’ve heard a lot about hygiene observation strategies, social distancing, etc. Those are needed physical approaches but what about our attitudes? Are we implementing successful survival consciousness?

This blog is about the power of inward control, controlling our thoughts, and not being ruled by fear. In a world absorbed by addressing a global challenge, we each have a role. You don’t have to be a government official or a health expert, rich or poor, known or unknown. You only have to be you, the greatest gift…YOU. But YOU have to contribute. Here are some suggestions.

1. Be good to yourself, really good. Observe healthy habits and hygiene.

2. Drink lots of water daily. Water helps cognition as well as flushes metabolic wastes from the body. Water helps with emotional balance. Good, clean, regular water. The amount varies, the rule 8 x 8 means eight 8-oz glasses per day. Other sources recommend an ounce for each pound of body weight.

3. Focus on helpful things. It’s way too easy to go down with dire warnings and statistics. That won’t help your body chemistry. Fear and stress release toxins in your system. Why punish yourself when you can practice being good to yourself? That will help you and everyone.

4. If you can walk in nature, do. Nature has a cleansing effect, a calming effect. It can shift your mood. Take a walk. Breathe deeply from your belly. Let the oxygen bring vital nutrients to your organs and brain. Clear the cobweb of tangled thoughts bothering you. Clarity is important. With every breath focus your mind on something positive. A simple way to disentangle the mind from fear and confusion is to give it something positive to focus on. Call it mindfulness, meditation, affirmation, or simple positive thinking, it works. Here’s a simple example.

     a. “With every breath I become stronger, more positive, happier, and filled with peaceful feelings.” Simple, right? Powerful is positive thought.

     b. “I am always in the right place at the right time.”

     c. “I am a gift to those around me and those in the world. I am filled with love.”

Can’t go out into nature? Sit comfortably wherever you can. Imagine something in nature you love- -a sunset, a flower, the ocean, the stars, a tree, a houseplant, whatever. Focus on that image. With your eyes shut try to create it in your mind’s eye like it’s in front of you. Not comfortable with visualizing? Have a calming photo to look at, preferably one without people in it. You’ll tend to focus on them. Do your deep breathing and affirmations.

5. Create your own personal affirmations but be sure to make them positive. You are essentially training your subconscious mind and entering an Alpha brainwave pattern, (Alpha is 8-12 Hz., cycles per second). This is the same cycles per second as daydreaming, slower and more impressionable. We’ve all done that, but experiencing it constructively, with a purpose, is the thing. Alpha waves bring calmness and alertness and reduce anxiety. Since brain waves are electrical impulses produced when masses of brain neurons communicate with each other, then give them something hopeful to say to one another!

6. You can be a blessing or a curse…to yourself and others. Which do you prefer? Honey or poison? We all need more honey. Let that golden sweetness roll off you like sunshine. Light up your day and the day of others.

Think this impossible?

Listen to Alice question the Queen in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll:

Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

This type of positive energy may seem impossible to some, commonplace to others. But borrowing from the quantum theory of physics, we find that the reality of the physical world depends on our observation of it. Hard concept to absorb because it requires a person to think beyond one’s usual mindset. The founder of quantum theory, Niels Bohr, went so far as to say that if you are not shocked by quantum mechanics, then you haven’t understood it. But maybe it’s time to drop old ways of thinking. Let’s perform a quantum consciousness jump:

Contribute in a positive way to your personal health and the health of the world by generating calm, positive thoughts and images within. Let that energy flow out of you to others.