Greetings from Spain: day 4 of quarantine
Dear Friends,
Like you, I’ve been getting all of the emails about classes cancelled and temporary closures - many of these notices from the practitioners and businesses I need most right now. This has me thinking about what support I can offer you that doesn't ask you to stray farther than your living room. Feel free to scroll to the bottom if you want to learn more about my new 4-part meditation series, From Fear to Compassion, that starts next Tuesday.
Many of you know that I am currently a resident of Spain in full lockdown. Strangely, instead of feeling isolated, I feel deeply connected
I'm feeling lucky to be in a country under quarantine. I feel both calm and comforted knowing that every other person in Spain is doing the same thing and that we are all playing a role in containing this virus and protecting those most vulnerable. It's also lovely to be in a town like Cuenca. It is a small, tight community and there are already beautiful things happening to support the greater good. The Parador (a gorgeous converted monastery that is now a government run hotel) has been shut down and is waiting to be used as a pop up hospital or whatever else might be needed. Every night at 8pm, people go to their balconies to clap for the health care workers for 2 minutes and you can hear the whoops, claps and whistles coming from every direction. Hotels have closed and volunteered their beds to the government health care system. At noon the church bells ring 12 and then play beautiful music including the Spanish National Anthem, symbolizing the unity of the Spanish people during this difficult and uncertain time.
There is a quality to all of this that makes quarantine feel connecting versus isolating
I feel deeply connected to my family. This time feels very precious and we will no doubt remember the homeschool, guitar/sing-alongs, exercise, yoga, meditation, reading, card playing, and general shenanigans in these very close quarters we are sharing (at least from my day 4 perspective).
I feel connected to the Cuenca community. I see how quickly they moved to protect one another without complaint, how quickly businesses moved to follow suggestions even before the official lockdown, and how committed the people are to helping one another.
I feel connected to Spain where culturally, the people preference community over the individual. Where following recommendations and orders that drastically limit our movement and our choices is an easy pill to swallow because it keeps the community as a whole safer and healthier.
I feel connected to my family, friends, and communities in the states whom I have talked to more than ever in the last few days and who I can feel in a truly palpable way right now.
But beyond that, I feel connected to the world in a different way than I have before. Imagine people all over the world right now, doing the same thing that you are. Sacrificing in myriad ways in order to keep you safe. Yes, we are of course trying to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. But it’s more than that. There is an underlying feeling that we are all working to protect the most vulnerable among us. I know that my parents who are in their 70’s and 80’s are more vulnerable than I am. And I know that there is a woman in the Philippines, just like my 3 mothers and a man in Norway, just like my 3 fathers with children who love them as much as I love all of my parents. And we are all dedicating ourselves to alleviating the suffering of one another.
In other words, we are dedicating ourselves to compassion
Which brings me to what I’d like to offer in the coming weeks. I’d like to help you experience this bitter sweet beauty I’m exploring right now. Like me, many of you are likely moving into more and more isolating situations. This isolation can increase fear and anxiety, loneliness and depression. But it doesn’t have to! This particular isolation, one that is steeped in a deep desire to keep ourselves and indeed the entire planet safer and healthier is in fact an offering and one which can help us grow compassion and lead us to feel deeply connected. One way to shift into this mindset is through compassion training.
In that vein, I hope you’ll join me beginning Tuesday, March 24 for a new meditation series:
From Fear to Compassion: a 4 Part Virtual Meditation Circle
For my Salt Lake friends, we’ll be back together on Tues/Thurs at 9:30!
Here’s what we’ll do together:
Practice mindfulness techniques to decrease fear, anxiety and loneliness.
Practice mindfulness techniques to increase peace, compassion and gratitude.
Connect and meditate together via a live online meditation circle.
Explore the "why" of the meditation technique I'm offering for each class. I'll share the neuroscience perspective of the day’s meditation.
Ask questions and share perspectives.
***You’ll receive a recording of each session so if you can’t make the class in real time, you can watch or rewatch whenever it’s convenient.
As always, if you are looking for individual support, let me know and we can set up an online yoga therapy session.
Given our social distance, I think it’s safe to send you a million hugs and kisses and huge wishes for your health and the health of your loved ones during this “terrifying and beautiful” time (see the poem below).
Yours with so much love,
Rachel
P.S. I received this beautiful poem in an email a couple of days ago and thought you might like it.
Pandemic
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has become clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love—
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
(Lynn Ungar 3.11.20)