We are all being drip fed a very pernicious poison: 

“Vulnerable categories,”———–“Social distancing,”————-“Lock down”………..

“We are a danger to each other,”————“We are in danger ourselves.”

The whole idea of washing our hands tells us we are unclean………..

Now my rational adult mind can cope with all of this. I understand the situation we are in and I have no desire to undermine the efforts that are being made to keep this pandemic at bay.

But there is a soft vulnerable part of me that is not able to keep that information where it needs to be: with my wise, adult self.

We all have the child within us who takes the world and particularly the word completely literally.

I cough and suddenly a whole swathe of anxious thoughts run through me. “Is this it? Have I got the dreaded disease?”

I hear a cough from someone I love and I am instantly catastrophising their illness or death.

I touch my own face and I am doing something wrong. 

I long to have a hug and hold someone else close and this too has been turned into a forbidden activity.

They are horrible, destructive messages that the child within us cannot process, that feed into any other messages of being bad, not doing well enough, not being loveable, not belonging, that we already live with.

One way to deal with this is to get busy, keep busy, count your blessings. And that is a good strategy. But it does leave that inner child unheard and a child who is not listened to gets more and more rowdy. Maybe even to the point of creating physical symptoms to get your attention.

So as well as being busy and finding ways to fill this time of enforced inactivity, how about learning to listen to that child part of ourselves? Settling into wise, adult mode and listening.

As a Craniosacral Therapist I know that the child speaks through the body.

How about taking a few minutes to listen to your body?

Settle yourself in the strong, loving place of your wisdom and touch gently into the sensations in your body. What is it saying?

That ache in your arm? Oh yes, you banged your elbow while you were busy and didn’t think to tune in to it and send it some sympathy.

That feeling of a fluffy head? Maybe all this is getting to you more than you have given yourself time to realise. Your head may be suggesting a bit of time off to rest.

And how about your Heart? How is your beloved Heart?

Go gently towards the habitation of your Heart.

 It is resting in the cathedral vaulting of your ribs, being rocked in the cradle of your diaphragm as you breathe. It is waiting for you to turn your attention to its glory and its pain.

Without judgement, allow the heart to speak to you. 

Or maybe it isn’t speaking just yet. 

For many people who are starting to listen to Heart Wisdom there is, at first, just a blank, maybe a darkness. That’s Ok. You could ask the dark if there is anything it needs, or maybe just gently explore the edges of the dark with your compassion.

Sometimes, when someone visits the Heart, there is a whole, secret world of light and love that was only known previously in dreams. 

Sometimes it takes a few visits before the Heart is able to reveal its secrets. 

That’s Ok, no hurry, no judgement here. Just gentle love and wisdom. A gift for a hard time.

Photo courtesy of Lorien Ray