Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak situation is causing anxiety to almost every human being on this planet earth. Novel coronavirus continues to spread worldwide with new cases popping up daily. It has affected citizens of almost all countries. The WHO (World Health Organization) has declared the swiftly spreading coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, acknowledging the growth in last few days. Their is panic situation among people and many are feeling severe Coronavirus anxiety. The uncertainty and lack of awareness has developed more stress than usual. Anxiety is always not a bad thing.

Healthy anxiety calls us into action to be safe, to take care of the people that we love and to arrive at the present moment experience (mindfulness) with resilience. Therefore, with this anxiety, mindfulness (living in the present moment) can help you to cope with this virus outbreak and stay safe. Mindfulness means paying attention, purposefully and non-judgmentally, to your experience in the present moment. This goes with everything you do eating, working, reading information on virus and walking on road. Let’s being with the the basic information about corona virus and then we will move forward towards mindfulness tips.

What is Coronavirus disease or COVID-19?

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus. It is a new strain, discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans. The new coronavirus (Covid-19) has spread to nearly every country in the world since it first emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

Symptoms of novel coronavirus disease

The novel coronavirus disease affected people have following symptoms

respiratory illness (like the flu)

tiredness

dry cough

aches and pains

nasal congestion or difficulty in breathing

sore throat

runny nose

fever

In more severe cases, infection can cause severe acute respiratory syndrome, pneumonia, kidney failure and even death.

These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. In some cases a person may become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell.

How mindfulness can help to stay safe from coronavirus disease?

Since the virus is new, unfortunately their is no specific medicine to prevent or treat corona virus disease (COVID-19). Researchers are doing various tests to develop vaccines and medicines. In such a situation, you can protect yourself and help prevent spreading the virus to others through being mindful.

Here, I am not talking about traditional meditation practices of sitting down, closing your eyes, and focusing on your breath go in and out. That’s very early stages of practicing mindfulness. Here I am going to talk about advance stage of mindfulness in day to day life. It’s about practicing mindfulness in everything whatever you do. Mindfulness is all about focus and awareness. In short, about noticing which you usually do not notice. You need to be alert and have presence of mind, which situations can spread it more. Try to stay safe and take preventive measures. At the moment, prevention is the only cure.

Self-care through mindfulness

Be mindful about your self-care. Think about each and every thing which can help you to prevent getting affected from the corona virus. You can protect yourself maintaining basic hygiene and ensuring following practices without fail.

washing your hands frequently

regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with sanitizer or an alcohol-based hand rub

avoiding touching your face

avoiding close contact (1 meter or 3 feet) with people who are unwell

cover mouth and nose while person coughing and sneezing

avoid raw animal products and observe food hygiene

use mask in infected prone areas

avoid hand shakes

use disinfectant solution for floor mopping

avoid use of currency notes, instead use digital currency/netBanking

make sure people around you follow good respiratory hygiene

stop using air conditioners (AC)

Social distancing

Another important mindful practice is to be aware of situations where you can maintain social distance. You need to think about the each and every place where you go and may come in contact unknowingly with a infected person. To just need to be mindful that have to avoid crowd. Try to avoid following situations

avoid going to public places like parks, railway stations, bus stand, shopping malls and cinema halls etc.

sidestep eating outside in street food stalls, restaurants, food vans and eating joints etc.

avoid public transport

defer/postpone undergoing annual health checkup for diabetes / cardiac / hypertension / eye etc.

do not attend any get-together, party, religious social gathering

keep up to date on the latest COVID-19 hotspots (cities or local areas where COVID-19 is spreading widely), avoid traveling to such places

try not to visit hospitals/nursing homes, clinics and medical stores etc if you are not sick

work from home if possible

In fact, Medical practitioners recommend to go out of home; only when going out is not avoidable.

“We cannot always control everything that happens to us in this life, but we can control how we respond.” ~Lionel Kendrick

Overcome the social stigma

Several reports are now emerging that people suspected of corona virus infection are fleeing from quarantine facilities. It is happening because most of the people are afraid of being isolated. Now social stigma forcing corona virus patients to avoid screening. One need to be mindful about the presence of corona virus symptoms in their body. Noticing the symptoms is important. And, if any of the above mentioned symptoms are found, then taking prompt action is even more important. People need to overcome the social stigma and undergo medical tests. If tests are positive, do not fear and follow the instructions of medical health practitioner. Social avoidance or rejection should not stop you to seek medical help and staying for short duration at quarantine facilities.

Lockdown Mental Health

Lockdown has been imposed in most of the countries. The lock-down has not only restricted movement of people but also imposed a sense of confinement which is affecting the emotional and mental well-being of people around the world. The isolation from society has augmented the existing fear and anxiety around the coronavirus pandemic. The psychological impact of lockdown is making people to feel loneliness, sadness and helplessness. People are spending more time on social media apps and fake news is creating more fear. News channels are full of negative news. In this critical situation only mindfulness can help you to stay positive, filter negative vibes stimulants and have good mental and emotional state of mind.

When you notice negative vibes are grabbing you, STOP, Take a breath, Observe the changes within you caused by the present moment and finally Proceed with more self-awareness. This mindfulness process will improve your overall mental well-being.

Stop worrying – Practice mindfulness

Be aware about and recognize the moments when you get worried. Mindfulness will help you in doing this. If you notice that you are worried, you can stop and ask yourself, “Is this helpful?” If the answer is no, you must change your thoughts. Worrying about the distress caused by corona virus outbreak wont help you. Corona virus crisis has affected all of us in some or other way. Be it manufacturers, financial markets, supply chain, travel and tourism or hotels. People are trying to cope with this disease and fighting with this. Instead of worrying; think about how can you contribute to stop spreading it. It’s our social responsibility to ensure it does not get spread. Things will get normalize in due course of time.

Conclusion

The corona virus or Covid-19 has left many feeling scared, anxious, and powerless. The need of the hour is to have patience, do not panic and practice mindfulness to stay safe from this disease. Therefore, practice mindfulness; be it mindful self care, mindful eating, mindful social interactions and mindful mental health observations. These will help you to identify and notice the situations, which are unsafe and may cause infection.

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