Practicing Together Alone

While we are all hunkering down, taking care of ourselves and enjoying some much needed rain . . . while also doing our part to protect others in response to the double surge of COVID-19, I wanted to offer a few thoughts that have occurred to me lately.

Setting aside the tragic loss of so many lives globally, the entire planet is being asked to step back . . . and take a pause. In many ways, this might not be an altogether terrible thing. Perhaps this is an opportunity for humanity to collectively press the evolutionary “reset” button. Who knows? What I do know is that anyone who is sick is being given an opportunity to get some much needed rest, care for themselves well, and recover fully. And those feeling robust already are being given an opportunity to rest easy themselves and thoroughly enjoy the life they have built for themselves and/or to work on improving it. We are all being given an opportunity to slow down, find our center, and breathe.

The unusual times we are living in are providing an exceptionally good opportunity to become steeped in our own faith, authenticity, creativity, and everything that is important to us . . . including everything we've been learning within our various wellness and qigong communities: meditation, personal vitality, mindfulness, wholeness, community and connection.

I realize that many group practices have been affected by the shuttered doors of our local community gathering spaces, churches, senior and recreation centers during the pandemic. And when we are allowed to practice outdoors again, masks and social distancing will still be a requirement. But in the interim, thank goodness for Zoom which at least enables us practice together alone. (The positive value of the Internet has finally been demonstrated to me.)

Whatever your circumstance, take advantage of Internet practices and classes that now abound. Know that practice matters and that—even while practicing individually—you are connected to and supporting one another from afar. It's time for us to focus on our own wholeness, wellness, and healing, that exponentially expands to healing of the planet as well.