Holy cow!! There is information coming my way all day every day about COVID-19.
The information of utmost importance to me is what my patients are needing, what the best healthcare practices are, what vitamins/herbs are warranted right now, what drugs are worsening infections, what drugs are improving outcomes, what populations are at greatest risk, what percentage of infected people have each of the symptoms, what the testing options are, what studies are currently happening, and what Chinese doctors and scientists are learning as infections decrease there.
For you, it may be learning how many people are infected in your community, if you should go to the grocery store, what to do if you have a stuffy nose, or what is happening with your job.
With the influx of new information daily, my meditation practice is more important than ever for helping me stay mentally balanced. My practice transformed when I learned to meditate at the TM (Transcendental Meditation) Center here in Asheville 2 years ago. I turned this meditation into my own. It gives me increased focus, clarity, and energy. It also helps me keep the unhelpful, ruminating thoughts at bay.
Another reason I am bringing this up today is that meditation totally allows me to keep my cool when we are all at home all day. 8 pm rolls around and I am still Leslie. No testy other personality has taken over. I have always enjoyed my time alone and still do but meditation really allows me to go for longer periods of time without getting that alone time in and still feel like my whole self. I am extremely grateful for this effect during this time!
I notice that meditating once a day helps keep me “sane” and meditating twice a day makes me happy. Literally sitting still, closing my eyes, and relaxing my brain makes me smile during the other parts of the day. Sometimes I don’t meditate at all during the day, because, well, I’ m human and life happens! Some days, I only choose to meditate once. That still works out pretty well if I have also gotten a good sweat in that day. Exercise in the morning, meditate in the evening. That may just be the best thing for me and a nice compromise when I feel like I can only dedicate so much time and focus in the morning to self-care before I need to get myself and kids dressed and fed!
If you are at all intrigued by meditation, I encourage you to think about dedicating 15-30 minutes per day to help your mental health. And guess what else happens when you cultivate a meditation practice? It also BOOSTS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM! How cool is that?
For the past year or so I have been recommending to my patients a book called “Stress Less, Accomplish More” by Emily Fletcher to learn how to meditate. In the book, she teaches you a simple yet powerful meditation to do for 15 min twice a day. The central part of this technique is similar to TM but she also includes some mindfulness and manifesting, yeah! My meditation certainly got another boost when I read her book!
An even better option is this author’s online course, where you can learn more easily and perhaps more effectively. You can access the first three days for free when you go to the following link:
https://cd371.isrefer.com/go/ZOPreview/drlmeyers/
And if meditation isn’t for you, there are lots of other great stress-relieving practices so remember to use the one(s) that work best for you!
Okay, I’m off to get my second meditation in before dinner! Sending love to all of my people, which is everyone! Whoa, I am just feeling a lot of love for everyone right now. We are in this together, my friends, my fellow humans. Maybe this is when we learn we are all one. When we learn that taking care of yourself helps others and that taking care of the most vulnerable helps you. We. Are. One.
Loving you all.
-Dr. Meyers
*Check out this study on how meditation boosts immune cell production! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25035626