We all know what grief feels like. Most of us experienced challenging times in our lives.

This is new: We are experiencing it all at the same time. 

There has been a lot of talks about the economic fallout, overcrowded hospitals and the need of “Social Distancing”. 

What about mental health? 

All of us are dealing with the crisis in different ways. Some of us have changed their perspective throughout the last days, including president Trump. 

Let’s take a look at “the five stages of grief”:

Denial:

After hearing about the dramatic events in China, most of us did not take this serious. It seemed so far away. First conspiracy theories were spread. Trump referred to the virus as a hoax. 

Anger:

Shortly after people started getting really angry, but in different ways. Some were angry about the handling of the crisis, others were upset by all the accusations against Trump. Everyone became an expert and started attacking each other in heated arguments. 

Bargaining:

It was obvious that there needs to be an emergency plan for this. Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for not passing the bill fast enough. The usual bargaining in politics.

Depression:

Pausing our daily lives made us realise how serious this is. Small business owners are desperate and families do not know how to pay their bills. People in the service industry that depend on their daily income lost their jobs. Weddings, holidays and other events got cancelled. A very depressing situation for most of us. 

Acceptance: 

Let’s face it, we are all going to be at home for a while. Nothing we can do, but take care of ourselves and our loved ones. 

Maybe this is a chance for all of us. 

We can finally read the book we got for Christmas. Why not watch our favourite movie again? Call your grandparents or friends that might be lonely these days. So much we can do. 

Your yoga studio might be closed, but there is already a lot of high quality online material to study. Many teachers, including me, are working on new online formats. This will spark a lot of creativity within the community. 

“Our practice is more important than ever, but for now our temples need to be closed.”

Play music, write a poem, dance as if nobody is watching (nobody is). 

Educate yourself by taking a virtual tour in a museum. Take an online class. Listen to an educational podcast. 

Many of us always complain about our fast paced lives, this is the opportunity to experience the opposite of that. We are forced to slow down. 

We are all together in this, literally. 

Never before in modern history we saw anything close to this. It puts our routines at question, shows the weaknesses of our system and reminds us of what is really necessary (it is not toilet paper). 

Our mental health is challenged. We need to be aware that there is many people that do not have families around them. Being alone is scary in this situation and we run danger loosing our sh*t. 

That’s why it is very important to reach out to others, to stay connected. Let’s all call that friend that needs our support. A little chat can be the best medicine against depression. We all got time for that right now. 

This is a chance to re-invent ourselves, to re-shape our perspective on society and most importantly to re-connect with our human nature. 

We are human beings in the first place. Our jobs are all identities or masks that fulfil a purpose. Now we are forced to take a step back and reflect on everything behind that. 

Once this is all over we will have learnt a lot. 

This is not the end, it is the beginning of a new time. 

Let’s make the best of it and try to be of benefit, for ourselves and for others.