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I\u2019ll be blogging my way through the Coronavirus period, with a focus on the psychological impacts and how to keep yourself and the people you care about safe and mentally healthy.<\/em><\/p>\n Look after yourself peeps..<\/em><\/p>\n Dr Gareth Furber<\/em><\/p>\n This morning I walked to Baker’s Delight to get a couple of loaves of bread. I considered buying all of them but panic buying is bad m’kay.<\/p>\n I was careful to abide by as many hygiene and social distancing rules that I could along the way. Washed hands before and after walking. Kept a distance from everyone. Communicated my order form a safe distance. On the way to the bakery I listened to a brief podcast by Sam Harris. Sam makes the meditation app that I use most days called ‘Waking Up’<\/a> [you can get a free month of the app using this link – https:\/\/share.wakingup.com\/91844d<\/a>].<\/p>\n On the podcast he tried to explain why training in meditation made sense during this very difficult period.<\/p>\n Now of course, he has a vested interest in people training in meditation, because he makes a meditation training app. However he is very generous in offering free memberships to those who genuinely can’t afford the subscription fee. So I don’t think financial gain is his primary motive. Also, there are a number of meditation apps offering good deals at the moment<\/a>, so you aren’t in any way limited in choice.<\/p>\n He made a few points that stuck with me:<\/p>\n For many of us, the best thing we can do to contain the spread of the virus is to socially isolate ourselves. This means spending a lot of lone time with our own brains. The better the relationship you have with your own brain, the easier this self-isolation will be. The more you are battling with your own thoughts and feelings, the more the self-isolation will feel like another battleground, separate from the one we are all fighting with that pesky COVID-19.<\/p>\n So if you’ve been wondering whether or not to dabble in meditation, and you find yourself now with more time on your hands because of self-isolation, maybe this is a good time to launch a practice.<\/p>\n As a reference point, I do 20 minutes a day. It isn’t a miracle cure for everything that mentally ails you, but even just the dedication of 20 minutes to stillness and silence is quite soothing. Over the time I’ve been meditating (~12 months), I’ve noticed an improvement in my ability to notice thoughts and feelings but not get wrapped up in them. Don’t get me wrong – I still get angry and distracted and upset and irrational, but I’m slowly developing an understanding that these reactions can be shortened or shrunk.<\/p>\n
\nSprayed everyone I saw with Glen20<\/del>.<\/p>\n\n
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