Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash
I had a weird out-of-body experience a couple of nights ago.
No, I wasn’t meditating and I’m pretty far from reaching enlightenment, despite best efforts.
I was actually at dinner at this cool new “halal” dig near the city centre, called Wonderlust. And they actually have really tasty tapas food and the red velvet lava dessert is to die for, but hold on, this is not a food review.
While I sat there, listening to my gfs , I felt myself looking at them through a hazy screen and things seemed to move in slow motion.
It was surreal, and nope, I wasn’t drink or smoking pot. (It’s a halal restaurant and drugs are illegal in Singapore!)
And I wasn’t dreaming, nor did I have a fever. (I checked!)
I noticed my friend touching my hand as she talked , and possibly spits of saliva being flung across the table, by the other two. Inwardly , I cringed.
And the topic of our discussion was the coronavirus or better known as COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019)
Unless you’re living under a rock, it’s currently the top trending news on Facebook feed, and 1st on the list of dinner conversations in this part of the world, other than hoarding essential food items as if WWIII is coming, which is another story altogether.
The moral of my story here is that how much we take for granted the human-to-human connection.
Right now, in the business world, they’re asked to find creative alternatives to shaking hands. And in my world - what? No more hugs?
All I want to do is connect with my friends and I’m getting paranoid just sitting beside them; they’ve not been to China in the past 6 months, and they’re not sick, as far as I know.
When I went to the bathroom, my OCD tendencies, that I never knew existed, came alive. I looked at the doorknob, and I said to myself - “Okay, I just washed my hands. There’s germs and bacteria on that handle.”
OMG! I’m going crazy!!
Not the part about talking to myself - that’s normal.
But my paranoia over things I never used to be bothered about…….. and overthinking, which is a no-no for people suffering from anxiety.
And despite all that, I like to look at the bright side of things. Coronavirus = bad news but there’s a lot of goodness too.
I’m hoping that the OCD will extenuate itself to me obsessively wanting to clean my house. (Editor note: Not yet at this point of writing this post.)
Even if that doesn’t happen, it got me present to a lot of other things that I take for granted:
My personal hygiene
I do wash my hands, but from the looks of it, it’s not enough. It also made me conscious of where my hands have been, how often I touch my face……..
Now when I get home, I wash my hands. Whenever I have access to the bathroom, I will wash my hands first.
Washing our hands with soap and drying them properly is the best way to beat any virus.
Here are the latest tips from WHO (World Health Organization) on basic protective measures against the new coronavirus.
My stash of Bath & Bodyworks sanitisers
Lucky for me, I’m hoarder because I’ve a a bowl full of my favourite BBW Stress Relief hand sanitisers, so I wasn’t stuck when sanitisers ran out in the pharmacies and supermarkets. I always have one in my bag but I’ve always forgot about it. Now, not ever.
The right time to WEAR a mask
Right now, a lot of people here are indiscriminately wears a surgical mask, however if you’re not sick, and you wear it - there’s minimal protection, because it can still be spread via the eye, or faeces etc.
And there’s nothing wrong if you want to wear it. Here’s advice from WHO on when and how to wear the masks.
If you’re sick, then you should take responsibility and wear a mask, even when all this coronavirus is over.
Crowds
As we speak now, I’m socially distancing myself, because they found a case in my condo. I don’t have to but I’ve been staying home. Now almost everyone is working from home, most non-essential businesses like pubs are closed.
Normally, I do avoid crowded places, when I can. I’d rather stay home and enjoy a good book. Although I’ve recently just gotten back into bachata dancing, where we *god forbid* touch hands!!! For now, I’ll dance by myself. *sniff *sniff
Social Responsibility
Before COVID-19, hands up, I’m guilty of coming to work even if I’m sick and if I’m sick, I don’t bother wearing a mask. Unless I have a fever, and I can’t get out of bed, I’ll still come to work.
Now I understand how easy viruses can be spread - so please if you are sick, wear a mask or stay home! Just be a responsible human, that make sense right?
Asking mums for permission to touch their kids
Most of you probably know that I’m going through IVF. So I was practising a new way of being with mummies and babies before the coronavirus.
So if I spot one, instead of walking really fast, I will pause, and for a second as they walk past, I will take a deep deep deep breathe in, to get all the magical JUJUs.
And if I knew them, I would touch the baby or the belly.
But I will be mindful and ask for permission and get my sanitiser ready! By right, I should, all the time. But I forgot. Germs remember?
And yes, I’ll still practise JUJU breathing, albeit 3m away.
The power of human-to-human connection
I love hugging. And we do lots of hugs in my Baptiste Yoga community. Maybe for right know, we’ll do the elbow taps. And I’ll commit to look deep into your eyes, 3m away when we see each other. :)
Patanjali’s Yamas and Niyamas
And to be specific, Saucha.
Hundreds of years ago, Patanjali, the ancient yoga master, created a road map, which includes the Y & N, to show how you can live a meaning and blissful life, how to treat others and how to reduce the karma that we create.
Saucha is Sanskrit for purity and cleanliness and it’s one of his 5 Ns, which are his guidelines for actions to harmonise our inner life!
So stay clean people!! It’s written in the books!!!
See what I did there - a little yoga history for you, yogi buffs. You’re welcome!
My hands
How important they are! Resting them when the wrist acts up. Being mindful of where it is in the space, because I do have a tendency to fling it around and hurt people (and myself sometimes). And loving it even though I sometimes feel it can be afford to be a little bit less stiff and more graceful.
The beauty of being a kid and being told what to do
Because when we were kids, our mums were always nagging at us to wash our hands before dinner, after bathroom etc. And being a fully-fledged adult, the job falls on me (and sometimes my hubby), and even when I don’t feel like it - “Oh, the bathroom is so far, I’m hungry and I’m not using my hands, mum! Oh, Sophie!”
- I’m DOING IT!
Do something even if I don't feel like it
As per the point above. And ever since I watched Mel Robbin’s Ted talk, and since the 40 Days to Personal Revolution program started, I’ve been reflecting on things that I don’t feel like doing.
I don’t feel like waking up now to do yoga or meditate. Let me snooze. And my favourite tool from that talk was her 5 second test, of if you have an idea and you don’t do it within 5 seconds, YOU WILL NEVER DO IT!
In any area of your life you wanna change - fact: You are never gonna feel like it. There is a physical force required to do something new and to change your behaviour.
Mel Robbins.
Boom! Wake up People!! Life is Short!!!
Grace
Last week I wrote about Grace - and that it meant to have compassion, kindness, forgiveness and love. Perfect time for all to practise Grace!!
MY Life
Or rather it got me questioning “how I’m living my life?”
I said my hubby recently “What am I going to do with my life.”
It was more of a statement than a question, when I think about it. I checked in internally and yes I’ve everything going for me and I’m doing the things that I love and then there are things that are uncertain, beyond my control, unknown, scary.
What can I do about it?
Right now, nothing. I’m just going to stay in the space of not knowing, and see what comes up, with or without the coronavirus.
Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash
One day, we’ll look back and laugh. But right now, the coronavirus is a serious matter - people are getting sick and dying.
And we have normal healthy people hoarding essential household items when there are others who needs it more. It’s called Kiasu, which is the fear of losing out.
I really have nothing to say about that.
I’m more afraid that I get sick by queuing up in a crowded grocery store, than getting hungry.
There’s nothing much we can do but pray for good health and speedy recovery for those affected; practise good hygiene - wash our hands as often as we can; be mindful of others, read the right news (and not the fake ones), avoid crowded places and love more.
Just be a regular human being.
At least, that’s what I’m trying to be.
I hope you are too, wherever you are in this world.
Side Note:
On 30 January 2020, WHO declared the 2019-nCoV (coronavirus) outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The first cases was reported (and started) in Dec 2019, from Wuhan, China and since then cases have been reported elsewhere in China and in 24 other countries worldwide, including Singapore, other regions of Asia, Europe, North America, UAE and Australia.
Important Advisory for Visitors to Singapore (as at 7 Feb 2020)
What Travelers needs to know about the Wuhan Virus from CNN (As at 3 Feb 2020)
Coronavirus Care for your Dogs and Cats from Homeoanimal.com