{"id":7955,"date":"2020-04-14T13:33:59","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T01:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=7955"},"modified":"2020-04-15T12:01:04","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T00:01:04","slug":"this-too-shall-pass-practicing-mindfulness-in-this-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/?p=7955","title":{"rendered":"This too shall pass: Practicing mindfulness in this pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A version of this article by AUT doctoral student Renu Sikka previously appeared in Ako<\/a>, the journal of the New Zealand Educational Institute. It is adapted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the crowded Vietnamese refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person on the boat remained calm and centered, it was enough. It showed the way for everyone to survive.<\/p> Thich Nhat Hanh <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been three weeks since New Zealand\u2019s four-week coronavirus lockdown officially began. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me personally, it all began with one\nphone call. I was enjoying teaching my Year 3-4 class of students how to make a\nterrarium as part of our integrated writing and STEAM project, when I got a\ncall from my daughter and son about a complete lockdown across the whole of NZ\nfrom 25th March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life for me as a school teacher here in\nNZ involved me driving to school every morning, interacting with all my\ncolleagues, and teaching in the classroom. This has now become an online,\nvirtual experience in the form of emergency remote learning and teaching from\nmy home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know for sure that when schools reopen\nfor this emergency remote learning from home, by day my 40m3<\/sup>\napartment will become a studio. The place where I relax and watch TV will soon\nbecome a place for Google Hangout to check in with my lovely students about\ntheir learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am used to this place being my haven, where\nI prepare meals together with my family and reflect with gratitude on my day\ngone by. Soon, it might become a space to produce props for my remote teaching\nand learning.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My personal life and work life are no\nlonger separate \u2013 a fact that has been made all the more obvious by the closing\nof restaurants, shops, cafes, and almost all else except supermarkets, which\nare now one-in, one-out, with staff wearing PPE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, I live with my children, so\nwe have each other’s company. I know a lot of my close friends who live all by\nthemselves are finding it hard to isolate. It\u2019s quite an anxious time and will\nbe taking a toll on people\u2019s health and well-being, including teachers and\ntheir students.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a doctoral student, my main concern is\nthe wellbeing of all other students \u2013 particularly our international migrant \/ refugee\nstudents \u2013 who, like me, are either working on their PGR9 submission or on\nother aspects of their research at such difficult times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a follower of Nichiren Buddhism and a\nSokka Gakkai Buddhist by practice, I notice how some of the practices of my\nfaith are useful for staying mentally well through this coronavirus pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My advice to all students out there is we\ncan choose to live in fears, worries and confusion, or choose to centre ourselves\nand be the ones to model values like compassion, kindness, and mindfulness; now\nmore than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn off the news, meditate, turn on some\nMozart, walk around your house, listen to those in your own bubble more deeply,\nand let go of everything! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a deep appreciation and gratitude\nfor the lineage that supports me in this time of mass uncertainty and fear. I\ndon\u2019t know what is going to happen, and yet what I do with my thoughts, words,\nand actions can impact everyone around me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this time of uncertainty, on my\nyoga mat, I simply take a deep breath, inhale, exhale, rock my body to the\nright and left, and settle into a steady, unmoving sitting position. With\nmindfulness! I simply notice that I am not present, and I am courageous enough\nto return to my own breath, in the midst of this spinning world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I write from my home quarantine in NZ, I\u2019m reflecting on how our current global situation presents an opportunity for all of us as a community to come together in intensive self-exploration. We now have an opportunity to find all those alternative ways to think, feel, and act and doing so, the first question that comes to my mind is, \u201cWho am I in relation to the current situation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This coronavirus is moving; its nature is\nto penetrate the boundaries. Most of us in our current lifetime have never\nexperienced such a phenomenon. This movement is unsettling, uncertain, and\nshocking. In contemplating this movement, what do I feel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, I need to become aware of my own\ninner process. During this uncertainty around health, wellbeing and the\neconomic upheaval, am I aware of my own thoughts and my deeper feelings? If this\nis possible, only then can I stay in a place of vulnerability. Only then can I\nhave a clearer perspective on what\u2019s happening around me. If I don\u2019t move\nthrough this layer within myself first, I might project my own fears onto\nothers around me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this time of heightened emotions, we\nmust deepen our own sense of presence and grounding within ourselves. We all\nneed social\/physical distancing but also social solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simple act of washing hands has\nbecome a matter of life and death for us in such difficult times and so paying\nfull attention and being mindful can not only protect us from coronavirus but\nbring our meditation practice off the yoga mat to our own daily lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are going to survive this coronavirus\npandemic, we need to convert our own individual suffering and fear into\ncompassion; and by doing so, we will suffer less. We need to remember that you\nand I are not separate. I feel like sending deep Metta (loving-kindness) to all\nthose affected by this coronavirus as we are all interconnected with one\nanother on this planet. We all breathe the same air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As coronavirus spreads around the world,\nfear and grief are inevitable. But so are compassion, kindness and care. We are\nall these things!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A version of this article by AUT doctoral student Renu Sikka previously appeared in Ako, the journal of the New Zealand Educational Institute. It is adapted here with permission. When […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25775,"featured_media":7957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[200,148,149],"class_list":["post-7955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-authentic","tag-covid-19","tag-mental-health","tag-wellbeing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/mindful.jpg?fit=460%2C272&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p83npQ-24j","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25775"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7955"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7960,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions\/7960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesislink.aut.ac.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}