COVID-19: Finding Inner Stability Amid Drastic Change

Photo: Thanks to Yoann Boyer on Unsplash!

by Dr. Marcel Hernandez, ND

(I shared these thoughts at New Year’s. I think they apply very nicely to our present shared situation.)

Most mornings, I dip a hand into a crystal bowl of cards labeled with a single word: vulnerability, passion, harmony, friendship, joy, etc.. There are about a hundred cards in the bowl.

I think about the message on the card and try to make it my focus for the day. Yesterday a second card jumped out of the bowl with the one I had drawn. The two cards said: “stability” and “change.”

A seeming contradiction! For the remainder of the day I thought about stability and change in relation to health.

We all have trouble with change. Even as we know that change is occurring every millisecond of our lives, we subconsciously resist, especially as we age. We yearn for an imagined stability – a place where we can be calm, and just rest from the unpredictable changes swirling around us.

Sadly, this type of stability doesn’t exist. Real stability comes from developing our ability to adapt gracefully and remain centered, focused, calm, accepting and compassionate amid life’s unavoidable ebbs and flows.

By starting my morning with a positive thought, I’m pre-programming my brain to perpetuate healthy patterns in my encounters throughout the day.

There’s a natural tendency to take stock at the year’s end and ponder what we’d like to do better – things we’d like to change. And while New Year’s resolutions are laudable and fine, I’m talking about making resolutions at a wholly different level of understanding and application.

True change only happens when our consciousness grows. Real changes are born within us. The grow from inside out. Here are some thoughts on initiating positive changes at our core.

Embrace change consciously. When we try to resist change, we find ourselves left behind. We die a little, not physically but emotionally and spiritually. When we welcome change, we harmonize with the dynamic flow of the earth’s energy that nourishes and sustains us and makes us feel vital and alive.

Learn to adapt to the changes. We humans are unique in the natural world for our God-given ability to adapt to ever-fluctuating external circumstances and mold our environment. No other species can survive in polar and tropical environments, or design systems that allow us to integrate in radically disparate surroundings.

Brainwash yourself before someone nasty beats you to it! (Thanks to Rob Brezsny for this insigght.) The best way to establish new patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, I believe, is by constant, faithful repetition. Start in the morning with a positive affirmation, prayer, Angel Card, or inspirational reading – anything to focus your thoughts and actions in an expansive direction. Then try to stay in this uplifted state throughout the day.

Express gratitude. No matter what’s happening in your life, focus stubbornly, again and again, on the joy and blessings that surround you. Let others know how thankful you are for the part they play in your life. Do this every day.

Stay open-minded. Let go of the idea that your own reality is all there is. Try to see the world through other people’s eyes.

May the blessings of Self-realization and peace flow through you and bless the Earth.

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