Social Distancing is Making You Sick!

Hi, this is Tawana from Sappy Life, and I'm here today to talk to you about how social distancing could be making you sick and what to do about it. I'll get to that in just a minute. Over the past few weeks, I mean, let's face it, our lives have changed dramatically. Virtually everything that impacts us has transformed everything that we do. Dining in, visiting family and relatives and friends, working. I mean, everything has changed. You've been confined to your home. Social distancing is something that's so new to us that many people are having a really, really hard time coping with it. Now don't get me wrong, I totally agree with the standards of social distancing. Because it does drastically decrease your exposure to people who are sick. And if you're sick, it certainly helps to minimize the spread of the virus. And I have to be honest, it's not easy for me. However, I 100% agree with and adhere to the social distancing standards. Social distancing is physical distancing, keeping space between yourself and other people outside of your home, at least 6 feet apart. It also entails and restricts gathering in large groups, staying out of crowded places and mass gatherings. And this is a very tough practice. If you're having a really hard time dealing and adapting, trust me, you are not the only one. Um, so many people are suffering in terms of anxiety, depression. Most people are resorting to their social media or their devices, their phones, laptops, computers, or what have you. However, too much exposure to a lot of the negative media, or even some media that could be true but it's just loads and loads of bad news, is not good. This is a very traumatic experience for most of us. And the impact of trauma on the brain, especially with a developing child, is major. If you are exposed to high amounts of fear, high amounts of adversity, which we're all facing right now, are at higher risk of developing cancer and heart disease. This is due to the flight-or-fight response that's triggered when we are in imminent danger Say if you were being chased or attacked by a dog, generally these responses would trigger fight or flight, release adrenaline and cortisol, preparing your body to run or to fight. In that instance, you would do just that. You would flee or you would fight, making good use of those adrenal hormones as they flood your body. However, if we are continuously experiencing fear, as many of you might be right now when the future is uncertain, when we are not able to connect with our loved ones or see and know that they are okay, you might be very worried and highly concerned that you will, or your family members, or your children will contract this horrible horrible virus. So let's just face it, you more than likely are under far more fear and consistent fear than you have been ever, maybe ever in your life. Fear is a predominant emotion that affects the human biology. Our fight or flight responses are triggered. We have a constant flow of adrenaline and cortisol. This is a natural response and is vitally important because when you are in imminent danger, the blood is pumped into the, the limbs of your body and restricted from your intestinal tract and the rest of your brain and the rest of your body. So just imagine being in this state constantly. So what can we do to minimize some of this impact that all this distancing and disconnection is having on us? What I would recommend is meditation. Over time of practicing meditation consistently, it starts to open your heart for inclusion. You become overwhelmingly inclusive of others. At this time, since we can't be physical like we would like to be, it's a great time to reach out to others via text, email. I would say to be more personable, maybe write a letter, send it to your loved ones who may be far away. I think it would be a great idea for them to receive something tangible. We're We're light bodies, we're full of energy. People around, or the desire to have and to include them, although right now, you know, we can't include them physically. This will be a great time again to reach out to those that you feel some sense of compassion for. And trust and believe me, when you meditate consistently, you will absolutely begin to feel this way. It offsets the feeling of depression and anxiety. Your brain will begin to release happy hormones, primarily oxytocin, which motivates you to trust people and have a more inclusive spirit and nature about yourself. Meditation also helps to release the happy hormone endorphin. Endorphin is a pain replacement to a certain extent. It's one, one of the greatest natural drugs and sedatives, especially during such a time as this where we are undergoing insurmountable mental and overwhelming stress. And it is scientifically proven that consistent meditation synchronizes brain waves for more clarity and more connectiveness and creativity. Brain scans taken while the subject is meditating shows a significant decrease in the size of the amygdala, which is the brain center associated with fear. Healing chant meditation The initial meditation that I recommend for most of my clients, easy to remember, is very simple and it's very, very powerful. It's the healing sound of the universe. Om sound is the very first sound of life when a baby comes out of the womb and takes that first breath. And starts to cry. You want to be in a seated position with your back straight. You can even sit in the lotus position or sit on the floor with your back against the wall, or if you're more comfortable, sit in a chair with a back support. Okay, so you're making one sound. The only thing that's going to change is your mouth. There are 3 sounds that you hear. There's an ah, uh, Mm. Ah, uh, mm. It's not to be forced. These sounds will change on their own. You allow each sound the same amount of time. The only thing that's going to change is your mouth. You're going to start with your mouth open and gradually close. So I want you to pay attention to how the sound changes. I never changed the sound. The only thing that changed was my mouth from an open state to a closed state. So this is an Om chant, which is very powerful. You're going to chant this 21 times. The powerful thing about this meditation is that it synchronizes the vibration in your body, the vibration between the cells in your brain. This meditation also reduces blood pressure, allows for flow and adaptability, which is perfect in a time like this and ready to adapt to any changes that you might need to make. Protect your mind and exposure to bad news. It is okay to tap in every now and again, but let's face it, we're being inundated every day, especially with social media. There's just bad news all over the place. Sometimes you don't know what's true, what's real, and what isn't. Some of what you're hearing is just repetitive. You're hearing the same thing over and over and over again, compounding and concretizing all the devastation in your mind, which again is gonna impact your stress levels. So protect your mental space and limit the amount of bad news that you allow yourself to Hope this video was useful. Thanks for connecting with me. Peace.