The realities of social distancing and shelter in place recommendations are sinking in.  Okay, for a few days, it was easy. I indulged like on vacation and fooled myself into complacence and ignored any twinges of anxiety or boredom. A month later, I am actively paying attention to be sure my choices support a healthy mindset. How is the shelter in place guidelines impacting your mental state?  Do you feel (depressed), tamasic, anxious or restless rajasic, or peaceful and at ease sattvic?

Now, in Massachusetts, a month with no social or group activities is stressing everyone for real.  Mainstream media is pushing rajas with constant updates and drama.  Many people are retreating into tamas in fear and depression. How can you help your clients to deal with this?

Shelter In Place – Live by example.

I am doing my best to approach shelter in place from a Sattvic, compassionate perspective. Examine and shore up my emotional agility while I stay present, feel, and share the love is the basis of my approach. Stay current with what is. Get help and reach out when I need to connect. Look for new ways to grow.

One of my favorite meditation teachers Ellen Tadd (EllenTadd.com), used to say to me, “Given what is, What do you want to do?” When I ask the question to myself, I have been consistently saying stay in touch with my truth, act from that place, and help as many people as I can.

Find strength and integrity in stating what you expect from yourself and why it is essential, then act in alignment with your truth. Post -pandemic, I hope we all feel good about our choices and appreciate all the health-care and essential business workers.  The habits we anchor to in these uncertain times will define our present and future selves.

Love yourself enough to make the best choices you can, and when you fail, fail fast, move on with the learning. Don’t default to patterns that hurt health. Navigate this period of uncertainty with your whys (core values), to underpin healthy choices.

Learn New Anchors To Support Daily Routines

Share your clarity, process, and wisdom with your community.  If you have shifted to walking outside six days a week up from 2 days, tell people why this is important. Established routines we use to support our lives have changed due to shelter in place and social distancing. Perhaps the trigger has gone away, or the habit stack is missing and endpoint. It may be necessary to designate some new anchor points to help us remember who we are independent of a shifting paradigm. 

I am knee-deep in the process of redesigning based on the effects of the coronavirus on my life. Self-examination is a daily habit to look for issues and opportunities. I am setting new triggers quite deliberately, to support my dinacharya, to help me maintain peace of mind. Wade in, start to update your habits to build emotional agility, then help your clients to reinforce the structure in their lives to stay present, bright, and optimistic.

“When there’s darkness on earth, be a light in the world.”
― Jeanette Coron

Find your inner radiance, and help others to glow as well. If we all take this time as a gift and do this work, the light at the end of this tunnel will be a bright future.

Daily Routine Updates To Support Positive Mental State

Here are some of the new habits that I have set based on helping me stay positive and act from a sattvic place during this pandemic.

• Spiritual practice twice each day instead of just in the morning. Yoga Nidra before bed is an effective way to find a healthy rest. Add the structure you need to stay away from tamasic thoughts and behaviors.
• Make sure to stay in touch by scheduling teleconference chats with close family and friends regularly. When I feel ill or anxious, I withdraw. This time I have decided to reach out and connect to the people I love.  If you tend to withdraw, try to reach out, if you go on a social media blitz when stressed, create some alone time in your schedule for spiritual practice and introspection.
• No Gym now, so I am walking outdoors, touching the earth, and breathing down into my feet 7 days each week (weather permitting). Each step connects me to the earth and the present moment.  Find a form of movement to help ground you every day and balance rajas.
• Stay on schedule with my online teaching and blogging to support my community and my sense of purpose.
• Set up a free six-week community call with movement, breathing, and meditation. Focus on sharing the gifts of Ayurveda and Yoga to help promote a positive mental state. Seva (service), with a glad heart, is sattvic.

How is your daily routine shifting? What are you changing to stay at ease(sattvic)in an uneasy time? Let’s share ideas that we can put into action for ourselves and our community—continued light and blessing to you and yours.

Ayurselfcare’s purpose is to educate on the benefits of Ayurveda. This article is not a substitute for professional medical care, treatment, or advice. All the material here is for learning purposes only. Always share strategy and work with your health care team.