Meditation during the Pandemic  

College of DuPage Nursing Student  Krystal De Mesa wrote for Healthy Lombard that the pandemic has truly taught us the importance of health and overall well-being, among other vital things. There are various things that we normally enjoy outside the homes that we cannot do, and every activity has restrictions, for very critical reasons. We all need to be safe, healthy, and eventually, normalish life will resume.

It is extra difficult to stay indoors when you are an extrovert and the first thing you want to do in the morning is absorbed vitamin D by basking in the sun, smelling the fresh air, going cycling, surfing, or running, all of which help preserve the mind, body, and spirit. But the freedom to do many of these things became limited during the pandemic, catching most of us off guard. The new norm requires wearing a mask, oftentimes, outdoors, having hand sanitizer with us at all times, and maintaining a six feet distance from one another. While all of this has been challenging, it has also been necessary.

This has been a struggle for most people, however, one way to cope and manage additional anxiety is to focus on ways to stay optimistic rather than all that is lost. Energy spent on researching strategies to stay active indoors, reading articles, or talking to friends about what they do to cope, and other activities may yield a more beneficial result. Meditation is a beneficial practice that has been around for thousands of years and been helpful for many to decrease stress and anxiety. The practice of meditation involves taking time to sit with the eyes closed, maybe listening to relaxing music, rather than staying active and keeping moving which is so often that many of us do without realizing it. Some describe meditations as a way to immerse oneself in your inner peace and research has demonstrated it helps to alleviate anxiety, depression, and even manage certain medical issues like digestive complications, pain, and even types of heart disease (Mayo Clinic, 2020). 

The practice of meditation involves several types which are straightforward, and all equally helpful. Examples of the various types include:

• Guided meditation. Creating mental images of places or situations that are relaxing.
• Mantra meditation. Repeating calm words, thought, or phrases silently to avert distracting thoughts.
• Mindfulness meditation. Improving awareness and acceptance of living at the moment.
• Qi gong. Meditation, relaxation, physical movement, and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance. Qi gong (CHEE-gung) is part of traditional Chinese medicine.
• Tai chi. A form of Chinese martial arts. In tai chi (TIE-CHEE), performing a self-paced series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.
• Transcendental Meditation^®. Silently repeating a particular mantra, a word, sound, or phrase, in a particular way.
• A performing sequence of stances and controlled breathing exercises to promote a more flexible body and a calm mind (Mayo Clinic, 2020).

In conclusion, meditation has provided emotional, physical, and mental health and wellness benefits to many individuals for thousands of years. By offering a sense of inner peace, mindfulness, enhanced stability, and a sense of calmness, meditation is a worthwhile activity for coping during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Reference

A beginner’s guide to meditation. (2020, April 22). Retrieved February 12, 2021, from

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858