You are driving the universe's most amazing bit of kit!
Settle in to your body, admiring it from inside, sensing what it is to be alive. Those fingers! Your ears! Hmm, the tongue. Keep swimming around yourself, fascinated by the miracle of nature which is you. Over three billion years you took to prefect! Thoughts and emotions just float past, unimportant for the moment as you regenerate your mind by cherishing your being.
Jealous of the extraordinary power Kenyan and Ethiopian runners have, sports scientists studied them and eventually discovered that we could gain by fooling our bodies that we were at altitude. Holding the breath for a few heartbeats does this if you do so for several weeks.
To add empathy, at the end of each round when you feel that you are alive, spread this warmth to somebody you love and be glad that they too are here. After a while, spread it to somebody bothering you and realise that they are equal to you and as deserving of understanding as you are. If it helps, see their unwanted behaviour as that of a four year old child. Most of us, much of the time, react from an emotional base of the child within. Laugh, for we are all quite similar.
This is still a difficult period. Our mental health is in need of a boost. It is how we react to events which defines the quality of our daily existence. Each of us can make the most of our situation, gain skills which will enhance each day and which will remain with us for years to come.
If you are doubtful, discover how people cope with total lock-in by reading the books of writers such as the Lebanon hostages, John McCarthy and Terry Waite.
SANITY TOOL KIT
The exercise can be a Corona Aid if you -
Breathe in fully.
Hold for count of 7-10 heartbeats.
Let out slowly for 7-10.
This helps strengthen the lungs and expand them,
which should help if you are ever in trouble.
It also helps mental wellbeing....
The NHS as well as the charity MIND have
recommended my work.