Mindfulness During Challenging Times

With every passing day, we are bombarded with news of the pandemic, making its grip stronger. Schools and offices are closed. Travel plans and conferences are canceled. There’s been a run on everything from sugar to toilet paper. The stock market has dived south.

As frightening as the virus, is the uncertainty it’s causing. Amid the fear and uncertainty, I’m reminded of why I practice mindfulness.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. – Seneca

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is about many things, but one is managing your emotions. Noticing what you are feeling but not immediately acting on those emotions is important, as it can keep you from making rash actions, like those who hoarded toilet paper; they were reacting from their panic and acted irrationally. They felt threatened and went immediately into survival mode, not thinking about their neighbor. When we feel threatened, we experience an amygdala hijack where there is a chemical reaction in the brain that shuts down accessing the logical, reasoning function part of the brain.

How mindfulness affects the immune system?

In addition to remaining calm and breaking automatic behavioral patterns, mindfulness practice can boost your immune system. Stress and panic lower immunity, and you can become more susceptible to any virus. With the coronavirus, all of us have been advised about avoiding touching our faces with unwashed hands. Touching our faces is an automatic impulse. Mindfulness brings awareness to impulses and creates space for you to not act on those impulses.

Leading companies practice mindfulness

Leading tech companies, consulting firms, and banks including Google, Apple, Deutsche Bank, and McKinsey and Co promote employee meditation to relieve stress and increase productivity. It is said that “in Silicon Valley meditation is no fad, it could make your career.”

When the experts were asked about the significance of mindfulness during challenging times, this is what they had to share:

With so much uncertainty it's important to clarify what is in our control and what isn't.  Taking care of ourselves is our #1 priority. Noticing what feelings and emotions are coming up for you... accepting them as we are going through a grieving process. We have lost our way of life. Accepting what is now, with all the uncertainty that goes with it. And knowing it's ok to not be ok, and if the only thing we manage to do today is breathe... that's ok too. Wendy Shaw, mBrainer, Trainer & Coach

If you are working from home right now, you may find work and life boundaries blurring and the stress of increased responsibility overwhelming. It's emotional and filled with anxiety. And yet we have the greatest tool inside each of us to manage that stress. The ability to stop and take a breath. Allowing ourselves to just be for a couple of minutes. Taking a few deep breaths immediately decreases cortisone - our stress hormone - and calms our nerves. Try it when you wake up, between Zoom calls, or before you press send on an email. Elizabeth Ross Holmstrom, Founder, and CEO, Mindful Employer US.

Mindfulness training allows us to make space for all thoughts and feelings and to respond to them appropriately, taking into consideration the context and situation we are in. In tough times, truly the way that Mindfulness works is exactly the same as in normal times. The difference, perhaps, is that during difficult times the effects are more noticeable. Mindfulness allows us to intelligently ride the waves of uncertainty which are always present in life, but more pronounced and powerful now than ever. Dominic Watts, Mindfulness teacher

Throughout the day, return to a one-minute breathing exercise to stop racing thoughts and to ground and center yourself. During times of uncertainty and facing unknowns, each of us can be a leader for others in remaining calm during this pandemic.

For Mindfulness Exercises, Meditations & Courses you can visit www.mindfulnessexercises.com by Sean Fargo.