BREATHING THROUGH ANXIETY

Breathe!!! Breathe!!! Breathe!!! And don't panic!!!

Easy for someone other than myself, who has a health anxiety disorder even when there isn't a pandemic raging.

Covid-19 novel corona virus is here.  Big time.  Our area has been hard hit.  We have more cases in the greater Seattle metro area than anywhere else in the U.S.  It makes for giving one the jitters; especially one who is in the higher risk range of being over 60 and who regularly sees friends who have underlying health conditions that raise their risk even higher, so I don't want to bring bad "bugs" to them either.  I am grateful to be healthy, but when it was explained to me that age alone weakens the immune system, I sat up and took notice.

We are all washing our hands, keeping a social distancing space from others, staying home with the first sniffle.  But we are also inundated with a constant barrage of news reports on TV, headlines in the papers, and post after post on social media platforms that keep us up-to-date on the most recent social, governmental, and educational announcements of closures, updates on cases/deaths, and updates on addressing this pandemic from elected officials.  To ignore it is to be ignorant of what we need to know.  To immerse in it is to ramp up fear and isolation.

I am one who, when something unsettling happens, seeks information, almost compulsively.  I think I'm looking for no-nonsense truth-telling and also reassurance that all will be well.

I have been practicing radical social distancing.  Basically I've left my house exactly once since last Saturday.  I know it's over the top, but I have nowhere I absolutely need to be, so why be out there where the virus is running free?   It's a decision I've made, shared by some, not by others.  It's been a good one for me.  I've read, watched, learned.  I've panicked.  I've calmed.  I've reached out to others similarly sequestered, especially those who have underling conditions (cancer, respiratory illness) and let them know I am with them.  I've tried to lean into kindness for all who are afraid and unsure.  My anxiety allows me to have deep empathy.  That's one gift of this thing I deal with.

The other is knowing I have tools to turn to to help myself when I start to spiral.  Yoga asana and meditation are my go-to remedies for a buzzing brain and a thumping heart.

I recently took a 4-part class at the studio on Yoga for Chronic Pain.  I noted at the time that it was geared to physical chronic pain, but I could see the parallels to using the practices we learned to deal with chronic emotional pain as well.  It is now serving me well to have that knowledge to draw from.  I'll write more about these classes and share the learning from there in coming days. 

For now, I am turning to home practices:  My Daily Calm meditation app is getting lots of use.  My membership in Yoga International online classes and lectures is at my fingertips.  I'm setting up a designated yoga space in my home, surrounding it with art and inspirational messages.

I miss the studio and I will be back soon.  I feel myself moving from fear to resolution and resilience.  It just takes me a bit longer, with a bit more effort, than others to find a new normal in this time of heightened concern and awareness.

What I know is that no matter how we face a crisis, we owe each other compassion.  We owe each other kindness.  We owe each other the spirit of community that can sustain through any trying time.

Let's lean into kindness, friends.  Let's breathe.

Namaste, donnajurene