State of emergency? Altruism and Empathy is vital for a COVID-19 world and beyond

I am a sort of meditation DJ, also known as the humming man on Youtube. I hope this blog entry will reach other like-minded people like you, on Linkedin. Before professional beings, we are human beings.

I am sharing a new initiative to introduce the practice of humming meditation for newcomers. During the lockdown, I had the opportunity to deliver training online on the techniques of Polyhum? which includes, mindfulness practice, breathing, bodywork, and more (https://www.humathome.co.uk) Every lesson ended up with a group meditation. This time, I am reversing the process by offering meditation without much explanations except the basics at the start.

As a result of a conversation with a friend under emotional distress two weeks ago, I came with the idea of offering her my meditation music and some guidelines. Later on, I thought why not offering to more people as a virtual walk-in? An oasis in the desert or a small chappel in a busy city. I am creating a virtual space without the responsibility of managing people as I do in my workshops. This is an invitation for self-care and openness with a concept based on 1. music leading the meditation and 2. becoming an altruistic and empathy expression as you put your intention on yourself and a stranger.

We will do it together and it is every Friday to mark the end of the working week and weekend, adding an element of normality during these uncertain times.

Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86948284406?pwd=U1FPekZUdTNmUW9QTElEUFBhM1NQUT09

• Meeting ID: 869 4828 4406
• Passcode: gw3cP8

The overall title for this meditation is A&E which doesn't stand for Accident and Emergency but for Altruism and Empathy. This is a free weekly offer to anyone willing to meditate to music and get support from others were supporting another human being at the same time, donating time, and a positive intention. I truly believe that we need to start creating micro experiences like this one in a world where individuals may feel disconnected and disempowered. I am just walking my talk. It is an act of personal coherence. These are the drivers of my values as a person in the 'business' of wellbeing.

To join in all you need is a light candle live on full screen. This creates a symbolic representation of unity and will make it less intimidating to the person willing to receive who will be showing off his/her face. Also, you need to bring a pair of headphones will allow you to listen to the music track and stay in your safe bubble knowing that other people are with you in real-time doing the same. The music will guide the meditation (without inducing words) and the options you have are:

1. Stay in silence being aware of your breath and in full presence to connect with yourself

2. Take one deep breath and produce a long hum M sound whenever you feel like it

3. If you do so, become aware of the effect of the vibration in your body

4. Becoming present on the sound you make and the outside sounds

5. Don't be tempted to fill in space with your humming all the time. Silence is important

This is an interactive and active type of meditation that allows the thinking mind to be out of the way. It is most likely that anyone struggling with their monkey mind will find that it is almost impossible to hum and to think about a job deadline or your laundry or any other mundane thoughts!

Some background My name is Sergio Lopez Figueroa and my passion is bringing people together to listen, connect, breathe, and meditate to enable mutual sharing for a peaceful world.

I started humming as my way to recovery from previous mental health problems before and after a short but traumatic living experience of homelessness. I listened to the music I loved and over time I managed to escape from a victim mindset by campaigning on housing and mental health causes by fighting creatively to improve the living conditions of other people and their mental health. The idea was to create a choir of renters in London. At that time created Polyhum?, a new mindfulness technique, because I started sharing it with others even if it wasn't perfect. I co-created the experience with the user and listened to what they have to say or experience. That kept me going. Having lived experiences makes you more empathic but making use of your empathic being is a personal choice.

Cancer Two years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and used my own technique as another tool to recover. I used to hum to the robotic radiotherapy machine and use to meditate by sending the vibration to the part of the body in need.

However, when I proposed it to share my practice with other cancer patients ran by a well-known charity, I wasn't able to do so because I had cancer. This shocking event confirmed once more than I should look at why we feel separated from one another and disempowered in our society. I wrote an article here on Linkedin about the lack of empathy and that led to the commission of delivering a collective humming experience to 400 people at Good Deals, the conference for social entrepreneurs where the issue of mental health was tackled.

What is missing at the moment is to understand that being altruistic is a valid route to recovery from mental health problems. The lack of emotional support for cancer patients is poor after treatment. During the lockdown patients (including myself) have been neglected, Appointments have been canceled without looking at the consequences on our vulnerable mind and bodies. I was concerned that my markers about March were growing at alarming scales. It is not a coincidence that when I after delivering 5 Polyhum courses of 10 days my markers went down to positive positive levels. After a Summer break of self-care, I am now in a place where I can start thinking about establishing a social enterprise to empower people to become more empathic as well as focused and in control and these Fridays meditations is a way to keep the door open for people to access it in a gentle way.

I am now offering A&E, free Friday night meditation experiences open to anyone, and have established a community group to train, support, and put empathy into practice. The first empathy group is ECCN, The Empathy in Cancer CareNetwork to enable patient peer-to-peer support to tackle the lack of emotional and mental health support, especially post-treatment. Members will share time and skills and will be trained to become active changemakers, storytellers, and advocate for change in health care whilst becoming more empathic towards others, instead of becoming attached to their story. It is a way to move forward and be part of a large community.

ECCN includes doctors and nurses with cancer and will be empowering patients by giving and receiving time and skills from others to support our emotional needs and wellbeing whilst acting as a catalyst for change to bring empathy to NHS care and to use the power of storytelling to influence other people's lives. In the times that we are living were fear and uncertainty, a drop of empathy will have a ripple effect because to change to a new world of co-dependency, collaboration, and wealth we need to start the journey from within. Why not follow the example of Denmark where empathy is at the core of the education system since 1994 and it has been a long term investment in happiness.

What is missing in the UK to become a more empathic country in a post-COVID and post Brexit times?

Sergio Lopez Figueroa

Humming in Harmony

Youtube www.hummingman.com

Instagram @thehummingman