Like every other person, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the current pandemic and what it means for myself, my family, my career, my friends and our society as whole.
I’m trying my very best not to stress, to have the calmest, most rational mind about this possible. I’m lucky to have a practice to fall back on, and a wife who is wise beyond words. Still, I’ve never been in a situation like this. None of us have, right?
Of particular concern to my personal life are a few factors. I have a pregnant wife, a 19 month old daughter, and a 72 year old father, who besides his age is compromised due to some heart complications a couple years ago. I obviously don’t want to do anything that could put any of them in danger. As a (brief) sigh of (sort of) relief, the virus doesn’t seem to be affecting children (as far as we know). It gives me some breathing room around Olivia.
Further down the line of my concerns, is that I am, by trade, a musician. I make my living traveling around the world, playing music, selling t-shirts, that sort of thing. This is how I support my family. Right now my livelihood and that of many of my closest friends is at stake. TONS of people are in similar situations. So what do we do?
We pause for a moment.
An event like this has the unexpected side effect, of showing us all how truly interconnected we really are. Even if you don’t but into the “we are all one” mentality (I do) you can very clearly see how we’ve come to rely on each other, once our connections are strained. Nothing like a pandemic to make us see that what affects one of us effects us all.
Hoarding toilet paper, cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer definitely isn’t fucking helping. This is the “us vs them” mentality I’ve been warning about for years. If we instead focus on how we can help each other, we’ll get much further. This is going to mean something different for everybody. For some it’s going to mean working in hospitals or medical centers. For others it’s going to mean giving money or other resources to those in need. We all have our part to play, and if we work together we can support, and be supported by each other. We are powerful together.
My work (besides music) is teaching. I have spent many years studying and practicing philosophies and spiritual practices from all over the world. It is my great honor to share what I’ve learned, in the hopes it can help others. This event is certainly no different. For today, I’d like to borrow from Buddhism, and talk about four practices/states of mind that can help us through this crazy fucking event.
The Brahma-Vihara, the Four Immeasurables
Compassion
Kindness
Equanimity
Joy
Through compassion, we can allow ourselves to feel whatever we need to feel. We can see that it’s okay to be uncertain. Sometimes things are out of our control, and the most compassionate thing is to allow ourselves to rest in that uncertainty. We can see that just as we are scared, so are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters. Compassion allows us to see that we are all in this together, and remove the burden of isolation and loneliness, even when many are actually in physical isolation. You are not alone, we are not alone. Just as you feel sad or scared, so do all of us. And that’s okay. We can have compassion for each other, and experience great healing through the uncertainty.
Kindness extends to our loved ones, but also to complete strangers, and to ourselves. We forget to be kind to ourselves often. Use this experience to practice that. Everyone is suffering, a little kindness can go a long way. Non-judgement is a form of kindness, and though it can be challenging not to judge someone you see hoarding bottled water and hand sanitizer, it’s also not helpful to sit around and just be pissed off about it. This steals your energy, keeps you in a reactive state rather than a creative state. When we are kind, we are free, and with the burden of judgement off our shoulders we can come up with actual, helpful things to do. Tough, I know. Find the ways you can practice kindness. Do your best not to add to the problem, or the negative energy, be a light, a source of inspiration for those around you.
Equanimity is especially important here. This is all about being balanced, no matter what is going on. We have to keep balanced, to avoid making things worse, to help make things better. Equanimity teaches us that everything passes, and whatever is going on doesn’t need to shake our inner peace. This takes practice, but even knowing this is an option can be very helpful. Panic is definitely not fucking helping. Take a deep breath in. Take a deep breath out. Return to equanimity and find peace in the unknown. You will be okay, one way or another.
Finally, joy is about flipping the script. Choosing to be happy, even when there’s seemingly so much to be unhappy about. This is important. Life has to go on. Yes, things are changing, yes we have no idea where/how/when this will end. But we can still be joyful, we can still appreciate what we do have. As long as we have another day on this earth, we have a chance to experience joy, and to help spread that joy to others. Here’s where I make a lame joke about joy being more contagious than COVID-19.
We can’t always control what happens, but we can control how we relate to it. When we stop harming ourselves and others, we free ourselves to create solutions. Where we were previously so stressed it blinded it, we can see clearly (now the rain is gone). Do you get what I’m trying to say? Our attitude is everything.
For now, I’m trying to enjoy the fact that I get extra time with my wife and daughter, and to get creative about ways I can continue my work. How can I help others? How can I make money and support my family?
Luckily, before any of this hit, my wife and I were already in the process of launching our online yoga school. It’s not much yet, but it’s there. This is our chance to focus on building the online school. I can see the opportunity and the challenges of creating something that helps other people and brings money in, while adhering to this current landscape of social distancing and public health crisis.
We’re adding classes daily for the time being, including a kindness meditation which to accompany this article. I’m offering several pricing tiers so that people can pay what is comfortable. Check that out through the button.
For now, let’s try to flip this, to see it all in a different light. I know it can be hard to be optimistic, but that’s exactly what we need to do, now more than ever. A positive mental attitude will help us get through this, it will help us move from survival mode to creative mode, where our best work can be done. This is how we change the world. Proactive, not reactive. Compassionate, balanced, level-headed. We’ve got this.
Bowing (but not shaking hands)
Miguel
My first course launched earlier this month and we are actively creating new content, new classes to try and expand our offerings for as many people as possible. We’re currently working on individual classes relevant to what everyone is going through right now: yoga for the immune system, meditations to relieve anxiety, that sort of thing. I’ve added a discounted price for the intensive course for now. I am looking into creating 1 on 1 live sessions as well. More on that soon.
For the individual classes we are working on several payment options, to try and let students pay what they can afford during these uncertain times, and also to give people whose income is unaffected a chance to pay extra if they’d like. Every bit helps, and I am extremely grateful for the chance to be of service, and for the support of the school, my work and my family. Updates can be found at Blossom Yoga School. Check back often as we will be adding a ton of content this month.
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And hey! If you’re feeling extra generous, you can venmo @Miggy_Chen or paypal miguelgchen@gmail.com
Thanks again for all the support.
Great message this morning! we are all in a place of uncertainty. the interesting thought I have had through all this is the fact that 2 weeks ago, everyone was talking about the anger, the hatred, and how we are a country divided... today, in this crisis, it's not about thinking selfishly, it's about thinking about others. to your point, those that can get really sick are more important now. we need to think of them first. oh, the irony of a political system that tears us apart and a virus that makes us compassionate and empathize with others. Stay healthy my friends.