As we contine to watch the drama unfold before our very eyes, we can sometimes be mistaken for thinking we are watching a Hollywood movie, however, this is real life.

With COVID-19 on everybody’s mind, I felt it appropriate to use this week’s blog to create a PROACTIVE FOCUS towards what we can do to keep well and prevent spreading the virus elsewhere.

Advice

As many of us will have heard on multiple occasions that handwashing is crucial.  Let us consider further information and details to the importance of self care and looking out for others.

WASH YOUR HANDS

Wash your hands regularly, every 20 minutes would be good and for 20 seconds.  Alcohol sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol will kill viruses off.  However, as soon as you are near fresh running water, wash your hands thoroughly because the hand sanitiser will kill off the virus but it can still reside on your skin until it is washed away.

AVOID TOUCHING YOUR FACE, MOUTH, EARS AND EYES

As a regular reader of my blogs, you will know how often I talk about subconscious behaviours and habits.  Total Somatics always encourages you to become somatically or mindfully aware of your habits and behaviours.  If these habits and behaviours are causing detriment to your health and wellbeing, it is best to create new habits.  In this instance with COVID-19, could you start becoming aware of your subconscious behaviours and habits, such as touching your face and stop?  

TISSUES & TEA TREE

Sneezing and coughing into the air are powerful methods of transmission. Coughing spreads droplets as far as 6 metres and sneezing travels as far as 8 metres.  Amazingly the droplets can stay in the air for up to 10 minutes.

Could you have single use tissues to cough and sneeze into? Then after use, dispose of them, preventing the spread of disease.  If you have a diffuser or oil burner, start using Tea Tree and Eucalyptus oil.  These two essential oils are powerful antiseptics, antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal, decongestants and will keep the air clean and fresh.

SMARTPHONE HYGIENE

Regularly clean your smartphone with disinfectant wipes and always wash or sanitise your hands after using your phone.  As COVID-19 thrives on hard surfaces, your phone is an ideal location.

MINDFUL CONVERSATION

Everybody is talking about COVID-19 and discussing their fears.  We live in very uncertain times.  With this uncertainty comes fear, anxiety and feeling overwhelmed.  I have had clients tell me they have had panic attacks about what is happening or they say it is affecting their mental health in other ways.

This is a really important time to consider the power of our words and what we focus on.  In previous blogs, I have talked about areas of your brain which actually grow when we use them more.  To read about these areas, CLICK HERE.

If you can change the conversation to less of the fearful statistics and more towards the proactive measures you are taking, this helps give you and others a healthy focus.  It will allow yourself to focus on educating yourself during these uncertain times, you can feel empowered because you are keeping abreast with the information but not allowing yourself to get caught in the fear and hysteria.  When we keep calm, we can maintain a healthy immune system to help fight the virus.  If you allow yourself to get scared, your body will switch into the stress response, lowering your immune function. To learn more about the connection between stress and inflammation, CLICK HERE.

LIMIT MEDIA TIME

As much as we want to stay on top of the information, could you limit the amount of times you switch the news on or check your phone for the latest news?  Choose a couple of times during the day to see what is happening, then after that continue living with your new level of consciousness which we have discussed above.

MINDFUL MOMENTS

If you are self isolating, there are many opportunities you could consider to be mindful.  Stop and appreciate nature from the window, balcony or in the garden.  Maybe it is a beautiful cloud formation, birds in the trees, your pet, the peace and silence in the house, mindful colouring, mindful Total Somatic Movement practice and Total Somatic breathing practice (an example provided below).

If you are still out and about but practising interpersonal distancing, could you enjoy walking in nature, feeling the texture of leaves and flowers?  Could you give the next person walking passed you at a distance a smile?  Smiling is a contagious (in a good way) and is a great way to lighten people’s mood when they are feeling anxious.  It also makes us feel good too.

STIMULATE YOUR MIND

Maybe you could consider reading the books you have purchased over time and has always been on your ‘to do' list. Maybe you could listen to podcasts and learn about new areas of live. If you haven’t checked out the Really Well Women podcast, please do! You can find Really Well Women on all major podcast platforms and at www.ReallyWellWomen.com.
Season 2 will be released very soon, so check out Season 1 because we will develop on from there.

THINK OF OTHERS

During times of fear, people live in their subconscious, primitive and instinctive reactions. We see the results of this in the supermarkets, with people fighting and pulling guns out on each other (yes, sad to say that has been happening). Could you consider allowing yourself to PAUSE before responding? (To learn more about Mindset and learning to respond rather than react, check out episode 2 of season 1 on the Really Well Women podcast). Panic buying and “every man for himself” mentally is causing certain portions of the community to suffer. Could you consider leaving one tin of veg, one packet of meat, one packet of tissues, one packet of disinfectant on the shelf for the next person? Instead of buying large amounts, think rationally. If you have purchased large amounts of goods with an end date close by, could you take them into your nearest homeless shelter, refuge or other centre for people who live from one meal to the next? It has been heartening to hear of people regretting their actions of bulk/panic buying and taking them into homeless shelters. When we become somatically aware, we live mindfully and less out of reaction and instinct. If we can think of others, be less materialistic and more empathetic, we can make this period in time bearable for all areas of our community.

CHECK IN ON THE ELDERLY & VULNERABLE

If you are practising interpersonal distancing, you may not want to visit vulnerable or elderly ones.  However, a phone call or if they are techno sauvvy, a What’s App video call.  Could you imagine how pleased they will feel that they have been thought of and it will really make their day?  Isolation and loneliness are known to be just as harmful to our health as smoking.  So if we cannot be with them in person, consider the powerful impact you can have on their physical, emotional and mental health by reaching out to them and showing them you care.

KEEP WELL

Keep well by consuming foods high in antioxidants and low in refined sugars.  Take a probiotic because gut health is imperative to your immune function.  Stay hydrated with water, green tea, home made fresh orange juice, home made ginger and lemon tea.  
Reach out for help when you feel you need support.

I will be producing some support material very soon to help you all out over the coming months and beyond.  I will reveal more very soon.

Take care,

Heidi Hadley xx
www.TotalSomatics.com
www.ReallyWellWomen.com