March 2020 is proving to be a challenging month for many people, businesses and communities, as we navigate our personal and collective responses to the coronavirus.

And yet, if we look deeper, this time foretells a potential global shift in consciousness through the confrontation of enormous and urgent issues. These may not be the ones that seem most obvious, but rather those which are hidden beneath the headlines.

There are a number of major themes involved; this is a drama with some big characters taking centre stage. Read on for an overview of each theme, and some ways to think about them or to support yourself (and those around you) through - and beyond - this time.

HYGIENE

Hygiene might be the first thought on everyone’s mind at the moment. Assuming we’re all engaging in regular hand-washing, let’s explore this at other levels…

The current worldwide energy is having a strong impact on mental wellbeing and the thought field. Yes, this year was going to ask us to do some work on the physical and mental planes, but who could have predicted this?

This crisis/opportunity is asking us to think. Is it a crisis? Is it an opportunity? (Or perhaps, both). To step outside of our normal modes of “thinking” - if indeed we can call it that. To move out of autopilot - to become alert to the bigger events unfolding on Earth.

We are invited to be mindful of the language we use and how we label our thoughts. The difference between opportunity / crisis; pause / shutdown; retreat / lockdown; quality time with self / isolation. When we change our language we change the impact on ourselves mentally and physically, as well as how we engage with this time.

We are being called to task: to clean up our minds, and the information that we take in or accept without question. To think clearly, to think deeply, to think creatively, to think together. To not know, to feel afraid, to take appropriate action.

It is asking us to consider our perceptions - are they really accurate? Are there other ways to think about these events? And does a change in perspective change how we approach the opportunity?

So, while we pause and slow down, we can use this time to reflect on our mental hygiene:

Has your thinking become polluted or muddied by external influences?

Where can you access your own space of clear knowing?

How will you keep your mind clean and clear?

Is there another perspective to consider?

For those of you who are Highly Sensitive, it is especially important to be extra alert to your energy-hygiene: How much/what type of news are you taking in? Who are you spending time with? How can you elevate your energy and ground your thoughts?

You will find some supportive ideas in these blogs: Protecting Your Energy for Highly Sensitive People and Good Energy Hygiene for Empaths

THE EXISTENTIAL ELEMENT

Right now, there is a huge degree of fear - an emotion which easily spreads between people through thoughts, ideas and actions. This is the secondary disease, and one which is likely to pose more of a threat to people’s wellbeing than the virus itself.

Again, looking at a deeper level to this we are faced, ultimately, with the fear of the absolute existential reality to our human life: death.

For many people this is a difficult topic, and hence why so many people are struggling to maintain their sense of self, stability and calm. It is a really hard topic to face.

I wrote last year about facing death in order to fully engage with life, and we are seeing this played out on the world stage, with great aplomb by the character of death, and with much agitation by the people. You can read it again here if this theme resonates with you.

We can see this as an echo from centuries ago - of previous diseases that would have had a devastating impact on the population and a huge death toll, and have been written into our biological and psychological responses to such threats. Sadly in some parts of the world this is still a reality, while from where I write in the UK this is, for the most part, a ghost from the past.

We can also look at this as a present day response to the climate crisis which is unfolding, and will lead to many millions of climate refugees and deaths (these are already happening). This is a (mostly) unnamed fear held in the collective mind. Can we name it, and begin to take ownership of the situation we have thus far been sleepwalking into?

Can we step outside of the current ‘permissible’ fear, and see how our collective choices and actions are already causing suffering and death for millions of people, animals and life forms, often in the poorest parts of the world?

This may be one of the hardest things we need to face up to.

And we have the opportunity to do so now while our normal way of life is put on hold.

THE PERSONAL PIECE

For everyone, there will be an individual story… an individual part in the grand drama unfolding in front of us. There is work for each of us to do for ourselves, as well as a bigger piece about the collective.

Something about this momentous time is awakening our deepest personal fear, which will be different for everyone. Perhaps it is fear of being alone, perhaps fear of not having enough, perhaps fear of your own wisdom, perhaps fear of being independent, or dependent,… the list goes on. You will likely be experiencing your own individual piece of the greater show - the part that is awakening for you to acknowledge, transform and release.

What is being touched and awakened within you? As you read through this blog, notice which key themes resonate with you on a personal level - this could be the clue to your own piece that requires attention.

In this process of taking responsibility for our own piece, there is also a clearing of the mental field. There is a clearer understanding of boundaries (mental and energetic) and stepping into your full self while recognising that someone else’s journey may be very different. There is a clearing of karma underway; a sense of returning things to their rightful place of belonging.

What have you been carrying that does not belong to you? Where do you need to take / let go of responsibility? How do you access your freedom?

Can you travel through your own portal of ending, the death of some part of yourself or way of being? Can you resolve your individual piece of agitation? Can you reconnect with your own inner light, inner knowing and inner place of peace and stillness?

LUNGS & BREATHING

We are seeing an interesting story emerging, which is connected to the lungs and the breath. I am seeing this with clients: the lungs are a central focus, as well as the ability to breathe fully. This is all about taking up space in our bodies and ourselves, accessing all of our potential, and connecting with inspiration and Spirit.

Our breath shows us how we are all connected, across the world and with every part of life on Earth. The breath does not know the borders of a country, or the limits of isolation. It moves and flows between all of us, reminding us that we are all part of the system of life. We cannot be separate from each other or the wider environment.

There are messages being carried on the wind too, like notes from a tune sung sometime in the past. Can we hear it? Can we make space for silence during our time of retreat, and really listen deeply to the sounds of the wind bringing information from far away? Can we hear our fellow beings and life forms, listen to what they have exhaled and communicated to us? Can we be with the grief of their suffering and the grief of the Earth?

While we all have the potential to engage more deeply with our breath, we also see on a global scale that the Earth has a chance to breathe again too while traffic and flights reduce or stop altogether. The Earth is being gifted with a pause, a space for her, too, to clear her mind and energy field. Together we can take a large inhale and exhale - in a way which is more free from pollution than normal.

Then we are able to take notice of the degree of pollution in our land, seas and particularly our air. Our natural spaces are clogged up, choking, dying. Will we continue like this?

This connection to the Lung meridian, part of the Metal element in Chinese Medicine, also asks us if we are in touch with our spiritual selves. Are we aware of the spirit which moves through each of us? Can we be guided from a different place of knowing - our soul rather than our cranial brain?

As you read the rest of this blog, be mindful of your breath - firstly as the gift of life, and secondly as an indicator of your current state of being…

THE SPLEEN MERIDIAN & THE EARTH

As well as the Lung meridian, the Spleen meridian is showing up right now too. In Chinese medicine the Spleen meridian is about purification, removing what is toxic, and about the future. Do we see the future with anxiety or with faith and confidence?

The answers to this question will no doubt depend upon your individual actions and mindset, as well as those of the collective.

What if we took faith and confidence in the future as a starting point, with clear thinking about the current situation, and then applied action consistent with nurturing health and wellbeing? Would society look different? Would our values change?

The Spleen meridian is part of the Earth element, so we can see this dynamic process unfolding that connects us to the planet and is calling us to step up. Reminding us that we are nature and not separate to the life of the Earth.

Can we take note of these lessons and apply them to the climate crisis?

Will we take immediate action on the greater crisis which threatens life on the entire planet?

Can we purify our air, our land, our seas? Will we remove what is toxic, so that we can create a new vision for the future?

I am really seeing this as a removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, utilising new technologies to eat up the deluge of plastic that is suffocating our natural spaces and - to return to the lungs and breathing - to generate even more clean power from wind energy. What is needed is a mass clear up of our whole Earth environment - particularly carbon dioxide and toxins in the air - alongside our own personal mental and physical clean-ups. And we are being called to do this now.

In this way the current enforced retreat into ourselves and our homes, the facing of our own personal and collective fears, is propelling us forward into the future - the choice of a bright and optimistic future. Can we mobilise as rapidly for the climate crisis as we have for coronavirus?

For ideas of ways to support your Spleen meridian, read here.

HEALTH

This time also gifts us the perfect opportunity to focus on health. How do we look after our bodies? Are we in an optimal state of resilience? If not, why not? And what choices would better support us in the future?

There is much about our current Western lifestyles which depletes us and lowers our immune system’s capacity. Two key aspects are food and stress.

As people are gathering the resources they need, we are naturally thinking about what nourishes and sustains us. We think about the supply chains of our food - are they sustainable? Do we need to look at our local producers and change our buying habits? Do we need to eat better for our optimal health? Do we need to give greater consideration to the environments in which our food is grown?

Stress is the biggest threat to wellbeing right now as people move into states of fear, therefore elevating stress hormones in their bodies. The best way to reduce stress is to spend time in nature; she is our natural rebalancer. The other aspect is more complex, using this pause to consider how our lives, interactions, work and social systems might better support us (rather than be a leading cause of stress).

How are we connecting with nature?

Can we structure our lives and systems in ways which nourish us?

We can use the guiding principles of nutrition and nature to navigate through this opportunity to review our personal and collective health.

SCARCITY / ABUNDANCE

As certain sections of society move into scarcity mode and panic-buy or stockpile items, we can take a look at this mindset too.

If we zoom out and take a wider perspective, we see 1) how this has been playing out on a global scale to date, and 2) the great irony in this mindset.

Let’s take the second point, which is that in the Western world we have plenty. There is plenty of food in warehouses, there is a sophisticated supply chain that delivers nearly everything anyone could desire at any time, around the clock. And even as I write this food companies and supermarkets are mobilising at astonishing speed.

So where does this mindset of scarcity arise from?

We can look back to the part above about the world’s history of pandemics and see that there may be old fears surfacing from the still fairly recent past (at least in terms of epigenetics) when there was not enough, when there were times of starvation (think of Ireland’s potato famine, for example) or when there was non-existent or ineffective healthcare.

And we also know that on a global level some nations/countries are using more than their fair share of resources on the planet. If at some level we know this - information held in the collective mind - then of course there will be anxiety about whether there is enough, because for many people currently alive today there is scarcity and starvation.

Can we in the Western world ground ourselves in the knowledge that there is enough and we have sophisticated healthcare systems, as well as better overall health as populations? And from this place, can we allow our personal fears to become compassion for those in the world who really are facing the realities of starvation, poor health and ineffective healthcare systems?

How do we find a better balance on a global scale?

How do we share resources (including food, knowledge, healthcare etc.) fairly so that no-one need know the pain of not enough?

This is a calling to come together as a global community.

VALUES

This brings us to values, and the values we are choosing to live by - personally, nationally and globally.

Generosity versus selfishness; connection versus isolation; creativity versus shutdown.

We can all see how these themes are being activated during this time, and how they reflect the mainstream thinking in our present-day societies. This is a shake up and wake up time for us to think about generosity, connection and creativity both personally and collectively.

Generosity. Connection. Creativity. Which speak to you? What will you choose to do with it?

My heart has been warmed by the creative efforts of people to connect and support each other. It brings us back to engaging at a local level with our communities, and thinking creatively to navigate the physical barriers presented day to day.

The Earth requires a shift in leadership from a small number of people at the top, to a shared vision of power, where both individual and system thinking, action and responsibility is shared amongst people. Where we care for one another on a global scale.

This time is calling those of us who are willing to step into spiritual leadership with strength, compassion and groundedness. Are you one of those people?

ANCESTORS

Just prior to the emergency announcements, our ancestors were stepping forward to support us. I have no doubt that they are still present - if we can make space to hear them amidst the noise of the collective pandemonium.

I have heard so many people utter the phrase “see you on the other side” and I cannot help but think that this is an unconscious communication relating to the theme of death we are faced with, as well as the interplay between the spirit world and ourselves here on the Earth.

If we can open our minds and our hearts to this possibility, then we have access to an enormous resource of faith, love and support from our ancestors. We can allow their wisdom to guide us forward; to know that our ancestors have been through challenging times and are available to assist us through this time too.

I received from a colleague a beautiful quote by Daan Van Kampenhout, which feels poignant to share with you all:

A lovely way to hold this in mind is to imagine your ancestors standing before you - first your parents, then their parents behind them, and so on. Imagine the challenges they faced in their own lives, and particularly bring to mind the difficulties faced by different generations nationally or globally. See the life that was passed on from each generation to the next, until you come back to yourself. Breathe in that strength, and then turn to face the future with that source of support behind you.

EVOLUTION

What is really interesting, and quite amazing, about this mental pandemic and its vibrations around the world, is that it is evolving so rapidly. Things change from one moment to the next, one day to the next, and each week is almost unrecognisable from the last.

Herein lies the possibility of a shift in consciousness from the mental (thinking) to the spiritual (creativity): to be able to access the fluid and dynamic aspects of mind from a higher level and flow with the quiksilver-like nature of creativity in its unrestricted emergence as a source of insight and inspiration.

Can we access this source of incredible potential: the ability to rapidly mobilise ourselves and allow our creativity free reign in this accelerating process of personal and collective evolution?

I hope so.

Let’s evolve together…

Space, support and connection at bryony@creativesoultherapies.com