Leadership posts

Finding Daily Peace in a Pandemic

Posted by Laurie J Cameron

 

I hear you. I’ve been hearing similar themes lately, from friends, family, neighbors, clients, and coworkers – people are struggling. From falling asleep, to maintaining focus and structure, to staying out of the refrigerator to navigating the uncertainty and fear of the unknown- these days are not easy. And I’m feeling it too. I go in and out of fear like most humans around the world these days. One of the biggest things I am hearing is the day-to-day diminished ability to focus, to get things done while at home, the external and internal distractions, and the anxiety stemming from the endless stream of news and updates. In my house, we are now on strict stay-at-home orders, as is most of the US and a good chunk of the world. We are alone together.

As hard as these times are, though, we don’t have to be ruled by our external environment or our internal anxiety and fear. There is something we can do. We can strengthen our ability to direct our attention and focus no matter what is pulling us. We don't have to get lulled into the news stream, ranting about politics or catastrophizing, or diving into the stockpiled food. We can snap out of the corona-trance and direct attention on purpose: to the positive, to the good, to cultivating connection. When we have mastery over the attention of our mind, we move from powerlessness to agency. We move from a small feeling to a grounded, centered place of clarity and action. We move from isolation to connection and from aimlessness to purpose.

Right now, there are over 3000 people from across the globe in the 50 Days to a Mindful Life audio course on the Insight Timer app. I am in awe of the response this past week since its release. I am also finding the daily rhythm, practice and community to be a source of strength and power for me right now as well. Each day (or lesson) of the 50 days is about 14 minutes of audio- it starts with 7 minutes of teaching, science and stories- and then has a guided practice to integrate the idea into your daily life. What I've heard from participants is that they've been surprised- this is not a course where you are repeating lessons and meditations every day, but moving through content that is changing and deepening as you go.

In our community classroom, people regularly share their own insights, reflections and questions. Thank you all! I keep learning from you, and I answer questions and share stories just like when I am teaching in-person in companies, universities and healthcare- something I am missing very much right now. We are all adapting- building connection and compassion in a virtual, audio-based environment.

And you can make it your own. Although the experience is created for fifty days, some of you are doing multiple days at a time, others are spacing it out over the pandemic period- and it all works. It is designed to build up a ladder of skills over the weeks, but you can drop into any lesson at any time. And come check out the classroom community going on – here is a look at some of the beautiful feedback that’s already come in:

 

There’s no deadline to sign up for the course, and you can listen to it anytime, anywhere (although, ideally, safe in your own home). All you need is the Insight Timer app, and either:

A) a subscription to Insight Timer, which can be purchased inside the app itself 

OR

B) individual access to the course itself, which you can get here

When you sign up, you’ll be joining a thriving and beautiful community of over 3K participants. Got a question about the research or practices? Leave a comment in the classroom and I’ll respond with a personalized audio message!

Let me be your personal mindfulness teacher during this time, and login today for 50 Days to a Mindful Life.

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