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My thoughts on navigating lockdown

Hello friends.

Firstly, I just want to sincerely thank anybody who comes here to read my stories. In light of everything going on in the world, you would still come here and spend your time reading whatever I have to say. For that, I am infinitely grateful. Really, it means a lot to me.

So, I have this blog. I have this small channel here where I can tell stories and reach some people with my words. So I figured that I should make the best use of it in this unprecedented time, to offer whatever support I can in regards to the 4 weeks ahead. For most of us, we are entering a very strange and uncertain time. Here, I’m going to briefly discuss some things that I believe are important for navigating times like these, and help us keep calm, keep creative, and keep balanced.

1. Spiritual Practice

I believe that the most important thing for us to focus on in a time like this is spiritual practice. I’m seeing these words ‘We can’t go outside, but we can go inside,’ being shared around, and I absolutely agree. Now is the perfect opportunity to turn inwards and really connect with our true nature through meditation, Qigong, etc. It is a chance for us to search within ourselves for where we are going wrong in our lives, to correct our faults, and to strengthen our character. Moreover, meditation helps keep us calm and balanced during a time when the world seems to be in a shambles. I would like to share the practice that I do every morning: Falun Dafa.


Falun Dafa consists of 5 simple exercises that can all be learned through instructional videos on the website. There is also a book that we read (that can also be found on the website), which offers us moral guidelines and encourages us to improve ourselves and strengthen our character by aligning with the highest principles in our universe: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance (Zhen - Shan - Ren). I have been practicing Falun Dafa for almost 2 years now, and I am deeply grateful for having it in my life. It helps me find inner peace, balance, wisdom, health and physical/spiritual well-being. I would recommend it to anybody seeking a spiritual practice to keep them grounded and calm during times like these. The Falun Dafa website has instructional videos and recordings of the exercises, and is a wealth of lectures and wisdom!


2. Routine

Our lives need structure. For most of us, the pandemic has quelled the momentum in our lives and shattered the structure that kept our daily lives in good shape. This is quite dangerous, because it makes us more susceptible to slipping and falling into old unhealthy patterns, habits and lifestyles that we removed from our lives for good reason. If your daily structure has been swiped from beneath your feet, then I highly encourage you to design a plan for your days and weeks ahead, and a daily routine that you can stick by.

Personally, I’ve recently discovered that if I get my morning routine on point, then I have won the day. How we spend the first few hours of our day will inform how the rest of the day will go. I think that getting up early, doing some exercise, meditating, journalling, or doing anything that is good for our mental well-being sets us up for a healthy and productive day. 

We need to do everything in our power to enforce our own routine. Physically writing a daily schedule is pretty powerful - 7:00 Rise. 7-8 exercise. 8-9 breakfast and journalling, etc. Putting our phone on the other side of the room so we can’t sleep in. Taking a cold shower. Tracking the days which we stick to our routine. Noting how we feel when we stay true to our routine compared to when we don’t… If we are serious about our routine we will find ways to stick to it. Now is an important time to stay diligent, and stay disciplined. A daily routine helps with that. 

3. Projects and Practices

Having a routine is all good and well. But what are we meant to fill our daily routine up with? Here comes in the importance of having projects and practices. With so much time on our hands over the next month, we have an opportunity to really focus on some of those projects we’ve been meaning to sink our teeth into, as well as to practice our craft. 

Projects eliminate boredom. They give us something to work on, to think about and ponder over, to be creative with. Projects offer us an escape from the chaos unfolding in the world - our own little bubble that we can step into and spend the hours, perhaps creating something that can genuinely help people in these time. We all have a gift, and a passion for something. Now is the perfect time to embrace these yearnings within us, to answer the creative calling and to start working on things we’ve always daydreamed about. We’ve all got ideas. Moreover, projects, particularly creative ones, give us something to pour our feelings, thoughts, and emotions into. During these times, we might be going through a lot emotionally, and so having some kind of outlet is critical for working through those emotions and transmuting them.

Practicing is yet another brilliant way to spend our time. Lockdown = practice, if you ask me. We have so much time to practice and hone our craft. If you don’t have a craft, find one, and then begin practicing. If you have a craft, amp up your practice tenfold. With 4 weeks ahead of us, we can really make great progress on our crafts and skills, and create some awesome stuff with them. Moreover, practicing keeps the mind focussed and sharp.


— — —

These are my 3 pieces of advice for navigating these times. I hope that some of these ideas can help you on your journey, and give you some thoughts as to how to spend your days in the next 4 weeks. Of course, we all choose how we want to live our lives, and ultimately, I’d say do what makes you happy and absolutely spend quality time with the people you are with.

As for me, I’m going to continue with my story over here. I’m heading into Chapter 5 of my story now. It does feel kind of silly writing about my life in a time like this. But my memoir over here is one of the projects that keeps me busy, and is how I practice the craft of Writing, and so I’ll be continuing it usual. Once again, thank you so much for reading. 

Good luck, and I’ll see you on the other side!

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