You Are Not Alone

You exist

You are real

You are valuable

You are not alone

Please. Don’t get this blog intent wrong… in no way shape or form would I wish to diminish the effect of the big problem that is occurring right now BUT Cv aside, think! anxiety, loneliness, disorders, struggle and pessimism are also at pandemic proportions. There is tremendous suffering everywhere and this crisis has triggered big fear, massive alienation and possibly is creating a lost generation to boot!

Before sector lock down this time we were feeling hugely grateful (see pic we posted Nov20). I BELIEVE THAT GRATEFULNESS UNDERPINS THE HAPPY DAY. I still (happily) feel gratitude quite easily every day but in my long days now it is accompanied by a host of other feelings that can be overwhelming. It is too cold to be outside doing all the jobs that need doing and maybe feeling a bit resentful at being cut off from the glorious Yoga Matters option that has sustained us daily for almost 10yrs.  YM is not just our livelihood but it was what we navigated our lives by, a sanctuary that has fulfilled us, taken care of our wellbeing, given us purpose, been our social group where we are privileged to care about our practitioners.  In the low moments it feels like it was ‘snatched’ away and of course, thank you govt for the lovely (not) language, feeling ‘non essential’… (indulge me here a moment whilst I express 🙂 ) WE BELONG in this YM place and practice that DIRECTLY addresses our mental health AND spirituality.  YM is the place where I can say “THIS is who I am”. “THIS is how I feel”. Snatched away. Happily the years of practicing a pma I can ‘sit’ with my emotions but not inhabit them in the way I would have in my early 20s; I can process them away with some Yoga moves and meditation but I know the truth of this problem – when feeling disconnected from purpose and feeling ‘unnecessary’, not everyone can.

I WANT THAT PERSON TO KNOW THEY ARE NOT ALONE. But what can I do for them in my own isolation out in St Mary. I confess when I listened to the CM’s reconnection strategy last Friday I initially felt frustrated at their very late acknowledgement of the ‘tangible repercussions on mental health’ and wellbeing of their covid measures; frustrated at them ‘touting’ their helpline for people who are feeling stress, anxiety, lonely when I perceive they should have had their sights on health/wellbeing sector reopening from the moment they closed them down (they stated they are only just turning their sights to reopening our sector!) {I WANTED to write they ‘admitted’ but that would be me imposing an acknowledgement of truth on their behalf here that really doesn’t exist for them; for me it is SHOCKING that they are only just turning their sights to our sector; to them it is just a statement of fact. To me it reveals they just don’t ‘get’ how significant the sector is (but maybe I’m biased 😉 }.  In our Yoga School so many people HAD a tool that was ‘covid safe’ and could have been easily monitored/policed (if the govt had the ‘will’ months ago) for looking after health/wellbeing; a tool that got snatched away. So many people don’t want to be dependent on govt helplines, they want to get back to the good work; they are capable of looking after themselves if their self help tools are not locked down.

RIGHT NOW if you have to use one of the organizations they mentioned YOU SHOULD; they mentioned “a wide array of support” charities, community groups, govt helpline and health service. They said a full list of support mental health network page is on gov.je. In any event DO FIND a way to communicate. Connect virtually; join an online group/forum. Find some way to express yourself; find something that gives you happiness in your day that doesn’t make you inhabit the anxiety and isolation.

TODAY I am remembering my #100happydays I did 6yrs ago (remember that global challenge where you find something in your day for 100 days that makes you happy and post a pic to support it); I enjoyed that but I can’t help but wonder how I well I would do in it were I doing it right now… BUT Posting on Insta and ‘LiveyourYoga’ is kind of like that right now; it has weirdly given me a positive focus and created a fun anchor in my day.

HOW ABOUT YOU? With so much ‘down’ time of late that space in your head that was ‘Bikram practice time/space’ maybe something else in your brain spotted the space and started to creep in? I know those things in my head that are not ‘me’ e.g. I WAS occupying myself catching up with a backlog of books but I’ve gone from reading the classics to binge watching/fast forwarding through episodes of pretty little liars (OMG shockingly AWFUL trash but I can’t drag myself away from it…. Whats THAT about???

MAYBE YOU TOO have used the time where you would normally have been in Bikram practice (and the rituals around it that occupied us) with some external stimulus that has not been serving your spirit so well? E.g. when we get ‘locked out’ of access to our Yoga medicine we found ourselves in a peculiar new alternative society that create conditions and stimulus to ‘purchase’ from those organizations that we all know have directly benefited from our alienation… Or maybe you are looking at your phone excessively or … well… there are so many other ‘lesser’ habits that we previously were busy breaking that may have been stimulated into existence again… Either way: NONE OF US ARE ALONE and ‘expression’ and ‘communication’ IS vital. Whether it is verbal or written. This is my ‘Dear Diary’;  THIS is my channel for ‘expressing and communicating’ at the moment… it is part of how I acknowledge my spiritual dimension in these peculiar social conditions we are stuck in right now… THANK YOU for letting me do this…

Let me know what you are up to…

Feb21

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *