Coach Sigrid

Social distancing Day 3

I woke up at 5am this morning, my heart racing, thoughts spinning… I knew that I was unlikely to go back to sleep, so I decided to follow the practices that help me feel grounded and calmer.

I decided to meditate, telling myself that even if it didn’t make me feel better, I would at least feel that I had ‘done something’. (note: it did actually make me feel better).

I got up, and followed the practices that I have slowly been integrating into my life, practices rooted in evidence that build my resilience. Better practice what I preach, I thought.

I am choosing my focus with more intention than ever before. I admit that I got sucked into the news media, and COvid19 case-number-following over the past week. We agonized over whether or not to cancel a family trip (and family reunion) in Europe. We did cancel. Now there is really not much to decide on… at least on the surface. Work isn’t requiring anything immediate from me with speeches and workshops cancelled or on hold. We are staying home. We have food.

And yet… choosing my focus with intention is harder than expected. I am limiting my exposure to media and social media because it doesn’t do much other than make me anxious. I still check occasionally but I am keeping myself from constantly refreshing my feed.

I am continuing my gratitude work – writing down 5 things I am grateful happened in the last 24 hours.

I am reaching out to friends and neighbours. I am focused on community. Where can I help?

I am committed to learn. I am reading and preparing for the time when work does pick up again – at which point I will be glad I did this ‘quiet’ work now.

This is a time I am choosing to use to strengthen my practices: my meditation practice, my exercise and movement practices, my community practices, my healthy eating practices.

Not only does this move me forward when I could easily sit on the couch … it makes me feel better.

I keep hearing stories of how Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine and how Newton invented calculus while in quarantine. No risk of that happening here, nor do I want the pressure of having to make something monumental like that happen. At the same time, these stories do remind me that my world does not have to stall while I do what I can to flatten the COVID19 curve. And so I will do what I can do… with compassion and patience not only for others but for myself.

What about you? What will you choose to do during this trying time?