This week has felt like a big week with lots of energy around fear and uncertainty. The governor of Colorado officially stated an advisement against any travel to high alpine mountain towns. My home in Crested Butte, CO sits at 8,800 ft and has only one highway into town during the winter months (November-June). We are a small isolated tightly knit town with no stop lights. Most of our revenue is sourced from tourism in Winter and Summer months. With many travel advisories being made across the globe, the President declaring a National State of Emergency, many local businesses closing their doors due to COVID-19 viral exposure and/or prevention, has put our country and our locals into a state of uncertainty and fear. In small resort towns, such as Crested Butte, businesses and workers rely heavily on the income brought in by spring breakers in March and early April. With many people losing their jobs early and businesses closing before the official "off season", the idea of making it through April and May financially seems daunting. This time of year can already be hard on many people in our town with increased suicide and depression rates.
Many of you reading the above paragraph may be feeling stressed, anxious, or even fearful right now. With the knowing that all is connected, and all energy is always flowing, our greatest contribution on a global scale is cultivating the love within. My encouragement to you is to find ways in which you can use this free time off of school and work to delve into your spirituality. This may look like spending time outdoors when you would have been at work or getting to that hour long yoga practice you never seem to have time for. You may even ask yourself, "What brings be the most joy?" Studies have shown and have proven that our immune system strength multiplies when we spend time in nature or are devoted to some sort of mindfulness practice. "When we feel completely safe, our body devotes resources to long-term investments that lead to good health outcomes--growing, reproducing, and building the immune system," Kuo said. "When we are in nature in that relaxed state, and our body knows that it's safe, it invests resources toward the immune system."-- from a Science Daily article on the connection between nature and health. Spending time outside not only relaxes us by stimulating our parasympathetic nervous system allowing for higher connectivity to all things, but enhances our immune systems and restoration responses due to this nervous system response. Whether it be spending more time in nature, practicing restorative yoga, sitting for 10 minutes in the morning, starting an at-home project, or enjoying your favorite book, lowering your sympathetic nervous system response is essential to overall wellness. Watching the news incessantly will most definitely do the opposite.
Please, of course, take educated precautions towards staying healthy including: better hygiene habits, social distancing, drinking lots of water and hot liquids, and limiting unnecessary travel. Let us also work towards perpetuating love for ourselves and others rather than perpetuating fear of others and the unknown. May we walk straight into this challenge and shed light amongst the shadows. May we cultivate compassion and understanding in our individual interactions as well as for what is in store globally. May we have the courage for radical forgiveness for the sake of our own health as well as others. This virus is no coincidence and great change is upon us. May you remember that all is One and your power is limitless in your ability to instill change globally by uplifting your own vibration.
This too shall pass. It is so, it has always been so.
