Resilience is a competency everyone needs in the world today. And never more than as we face the COVID-19 crisis. No-one could have foreseen what this would have meant for the world and no-one knows what the outcome will be next week, month or year. There is fear, uncertainty and panic abounding.
Everyone is talking about It and throwing their own spin on the facts they report. Everyone is a reporter in the world of social media and has the opportunity to air their views. This is an exceptionally dangerous situation, because many people are not discerning listeners and do not investigate the truth and factual value of what they read and hear and so they catastrophize, dramatize and potentially misinform. Somehow we all need to evaluate the situation for ourselves, our families and children and for our businesses. We need to stay calm, but not too calm. Stay realistic and not be unemotional. We need to be proactive and not be reactive and all of this in the midst of a crashing stock market, and an unstable economy. Resilience is required and it's not easy to find! My question is what can we do? There is so much that is beyond our control, which we cannot do anything about. It is vital that we focus on what we can do and do that really well. This blog post is an exploration of the question: “what can we do something about?” and it's an invitation for us to collaborate the best way we can to work together to defend against this possible threat. Here are my thoughts and I would love to hear yours: 1. We can make certain that we only discuss facts we know to be true. We make certain we do not post or share anything that is not reliable and factual. 2. We can think through a “win:win” lens. It's not about you or I, it's about all of us staying well. When we all win, we are safe and only then. 3. We can do whatever it takes to enhance well-being in ourselves, our families, our communities. That means, we can, sleep well, rest well, eat well, support our staff to do the same; and thrive as best as we can.Working together to defend against this impossible-to-define-threat is our best hope. 4. We can stress as little as possible, filling our minds with hope and optimism instead of allowing helpless and hopeless thoughts to abound, because these cause a massive dip in our immune function. This doesn’t mean be pseudo positive, pretending there is nothing negative going on, but rather search for what is working, what is good and what is dependable and focus our minds on that.
5. We can notice panicked and irrational thoughts when they emerge in ourselves and through mindful awareness, bring ourselves back to rational reason. We can inspire and encourage our fellow human beings to do the same, calling people on their panic should we see it coming up. Again, this is not a call to be “jolly hockey sticks” and unreasonably upbeat, but rather to keep on finding perspective and resisting the urge to catastrophize. 6. We can keep a generous, open-hearted approach to the world. It's so tempting to avoid and shut ourselves down to whatever feels threatening, but this approach is not going to work. This virus won’t be resolved by separation, but rather by collaboration. 7. The easiest thing we can all do is to remember to wash our hands as often as we possibly can. To wash our hands and to keep our hands to ourselves. Just for a while we can avoid shaking hands and hugging people and find new ways to greet with equal warmth and less skin contact. 8.Create social distance physically while staying connected emotionally. Quarantining and isolating oneself if needs be in body but not in mind or spirit. 9.I believe gargling with salt water and drinking water helps too. So let's do that; but remember 98% of bacteria are good bacteria so keep your gut fed with probiotics and fermented foods to help your immune system function at its best and to compensate for all the disinfectants you are using. eat well too by the way! I was in the Congo a short while ago when there was a small Ebola outbreak. Actually, the endless baths of chlorinated water and temperature taking stations, the need to connect arms instead of shake hands and the need to stay away from physical contact seemed to unite the people instead of separating them. Everyone was working together to contain the virus and they have been remarkably successful. I for one, felt inspired by the community uniting to ensure they successfully resolved the disaster. I feel inspired to join with fellow South Africans and with the rest of the world to take the same approach to Corona Virus. I would love you to share your thoughts, argue freely with me if you don’t agree and lets have a robust discussion around what we can do to help the situation!
We don’t have to tell you about the COVID -19 situation, it has probably dominated your thoughts and conversations as much as it has ours, but we do want to chat to you about our thoughts on how we can do our part to prevent the spread of this virus and contain the damage it has the potential to cause as well as keep ourselves and our families safe. We have decided at this stage to stay open and we are available to serve you should you need us. If you have been travelling or have been in contact with anyone who has, please let us know before you come for your appointment. If you can and wish to let’s do your session on ZOOM (if it is coaching) If you are unwell in any way, please let us know before you come for your appointment. When you get here, please wash your hands and use the disinfectant provided to clean them. Please be assured that we are disinfecting our hands and washing the towels and linen as well cleaning the bed after each treatment. We are doing whatever we can to make sure that our premises is safe for you. With these measures in place we plan to keep going and we will keep evaluating things day by day. We will communicate with you if anything changes, but for now please don’t be afraid to come. Please feel free to communicate with us if you have any fears or anxieties or even comments. We are your partners in well-being, after all! Let us all work towards the well-being of ourselves, South Africa and the world. Let’s work together and let’s do it with curiosity, compassion and non-judgement and without panic. Warmest regards Sue and the Body Brilliance Team
