How are you all doing? Hopefully it won’t be too long until I see you again. I am hoping to re-open my clinic towards the end of May / beginning of June. I’m just putting into place all the new items / protocols I will be following to make sure you and I remain safe and healthy.
Preparing to re-enter the world – one of the things I’ve really enjoyed about my time in quarantine is going for a daily walk. I feel very grateful that I live in a beautiful neighborhood, so even if I’m just walking locally there are lots of gorgeous flowers, trees and birds to look at and listen to. The other thing that I’ve always been so grateful for is that from my road, I can walk into the Cabin-John woods. Here I have trails near me where I can hike and walk alongside a creek and feel that I’m really at one with nature. When my son was little, I’d take him and his friends into the woods in the summer and they’d spend hours playing in the creek, swimming, fishing with nets, and swinging across the creek on a rope.
The other day my husband was very excited that he’d found a new trail that we’d never hiked before. We went for a walk on this new undiscovered trail, it was slightly off the beaten path and it was great until we came to a part where there were loads of planks of wood that had been laid down together to enable trucks to enter the wood. We had to walk over these planks and they had a big gap between each plank which meant I had to look down at my feet to avoid falling between the gaps. It was annoying, as I had to walk more slowly and had to be looking down the entire time. However, while doing this I suddenly noticed huge toadstools that looked like they made of solid gold and the brightest emerald green insect I have ever seen. It truly felt like I had jewels by my feet.
Seeing these hidden treasures made me think about what precious things show up for us when we slow down, look all around and really pay attention. One of the things I think Covid-19 has forced us to do, well forced me to do, is live in the present moment, in the here and now. Time has taken on such a weird quality, that often I can’t imagine what the future will look like or what I will be doing in a couple of days’ time. Focusing on the present moment is good because ultimately it is all we have; it forms the core principle of most meditation practices.
As we prepare to re-enter the world we will likely encounter a variety of emotions around this, excitement, relief, anxiety, and for many fear. I want to share with you a very simple breathing technique that can help calm you if you’re feeling anxious or want to feel more centered and grounded. It’s called the “4-4-8 technique” – inhale to the count of 4, hold your breath to the count of 4, exhale to the count of 8. The long exhalation stimulates your vagus nerve which is very calming.
Preparing for Re-entry into the world – I like the title of Maryland’s plan for how the State will open up again, “Roadmap to Recovery”. I actually find this name quite comforting! I think about how we’ve had to go inside / inward (yin) and now we are preparing to emerge again / come back out into the world (yang). Chinese Medicine is based on Yin & Yang. These are opposites, but are fully interconnected, in the same way that day and night make up a day. What have you learned from your time inside / inward that you want to continue with as you move back outward? Maybe you have reconnected with old friends / family members and want to keep up that connection. Or possibly you’ve realized how much you missed and value certain people or places. Maybe you’ve had time to try out a new self-care technique or discovered that you’ve enjoyed living your life at a different pace.
The Ultimate Guide to Self-Healing Techniques – I was honored to be invited to write a chapter on Acupressure in a book that is a collaboration of 25 holistic healers writing about their different self -healing techniques. It’s the perfect book to use now whilst we are still at home. It’s available on Amazon as an e-book and paperback and I’ll be selling signed copies.
In my next newsletter I’ll provide you with detailed information about when I’m re-opening my clinic and the procedures, I will have in place to keep you safe and well. In the meantime I’m only at the end of the phone for you now.
Sending you love and healing wishes
Nikki