Tools To Overcome Stress From COVID-19

A talk and meditation to help you deal with the stress of COVID-19. There are many things available to you that will help to do this:
Gratitude,
Listening to Music,
Walking and out in nature,
Yoga,
Do something creative,
Read a good book,
Talk to a loved one,
Smile,
Help another with acts of kindness,
Pray, Affirmations and Meditation,
breathe,
keep a positive overview and remember,

This too shall pass.

Transcript

Aloha,

I'm Rev.

Cindy Palos and I know we have all been facing very challenging times in the world.

Humanity has been faced with the coronavirus,

The COVID-19,

And we've all watched and been shocked at the way many people have responded and what's been going on in the world.

We are compassionate and we are caring people.

The reality is there is a collective consciousness and the collective unconsciousness.

When the whole world is going through times like this and watching the news and hearing negative stories,

It's very easy to slip into darkness,

To feel the shadows,

And to get depressed and frustrated.

I really am going to give you some ways that you can get back to your center,

That you can get back to a wonderful state of peace,

A way to get strong and centered and know that you have tools that you can use to overcome the negativity.

And this is a very,

Very important time to use your inner tools.

There are so many things we have learned that can help overcome negativity and staying positive is so important to your health and your state of mind.

Here are a few things we'll be going over.

They're tools from our sacred toolbox.

Number one,

Gratitude,

Gratitude,

Gratitude,

Gratitude,

And more gratitude.

When you stop and be grateful for what you've got,

You change your health,

You change your state of mind,

Begin to go from the negative to the positive.

Gratitude will make you happy even if you're depressed.

So gratitude,

I'm putting it number one.

Number two,

Listen to music.

Music has been proven to be a dopamine.

It actually changes your brainwaves.

I love music and I have to say,

Music for me lifts me,

Inspires me,

And it changes my state of mind.

It's a wonderful tool.

Another known wonderful way to stay positive is walking out in nature.

They say if you just walk for 50 minutes,

You can change your mood,

You change your energy level,

You start to see the good,

And you can actually practice gratitude as you're walking.

And you can even listen to music and practice gratitude as you're walking,

Which I do.

Here's another wonderful one I do every day.

Do yoga.

Yoga is a wonderful way to go into the highest and join with God while you're in your body.

And your body loves to exercise.

And again,

It changes your chemical makeup.

So yoga is a wonderful tool.

You can do it in your home if you're staying inside,

If you're afraid to go outside.

Do your yoga in your home.

If you can and you have a backyard,

Do it in your backyard.

If you can,

Even better,

Do it in the sunlight.

Another wonderful tool is doing something creative.

When you're in that creative flow,

You allow that inspiration to come in and it changes your whole state of mind.

Now that could be just doing a drawing or it could be writing a poem,

It could be maybe starting that book.

But that creative nature is the most positive,

Wonderful thing from the source of all creation.

Take a picture.

Draw a picture.

But being creative is so helpful.

Perhaps you want to retreat into a very good book and read something positive and learn something new.

Reading a book is a great thing to do.

Talk to a loved one.

When you talk to a friend or a loved one,

It's the same as going to a psychiatrist or psychologist.

You know,

You want to talk to someone positive,

Of course,

Not someone who's going to bring you down and complain.

But talking to a loved one really can be a way of releasing your hidden fears and getting your thoughts out and supporting each other and having a wonderful energy exchange.

And I'm going to put on this sacred tool of smiling.

Smiling can actually change the way you feel.

It can change your mind.

Take a moment right now and smile.

I first learned of this from a meditation retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh at the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center.

And he said,

Smile.

We were in meditation.

And it's the first time.

This was years ago,

Years and years ago,

Over 30 years ago.

And I remember how surprised I was when he said,

In meditation,

Smile.

Because I had not heard a meditation teacher say that before then.

And I was able in that meditation to see the effects of smiling.

Another real wonderful tool is helping another person with compassion and an act of kindness.

A simple act of kindness makes you feel good.

And it helps.

And it helps spread that positive energy to another person.

And that can get paid forward.

And it can really create an amazing ripple effect.

And truly a great,

Great gift is breathing.

Breath sweeps mind.

My Zen teacher,

I love this man Roshi,

Roshi Kwong.

And he wrote this first years ago.

Breath sweeps mind.

And he did it in a calligraphy.

And a beautiful calligraphy I still keep to this day.

And it's true,

Your breath actually can change your state of mind.

It does.

So if you are finding yourself getting into a funk or getting depressed,

You can stop that with breathing.

We will be doing some breathing coming up here soon.

You'll see how it works.

And I'm going to put this last on the list.

And I think it could be the most important.

Praying,

Saying affirmations,

And meditation.

That is such an amazing way to get rid of any negative energy.

And truly change your state of mind into a positive state of mind.

It connects you with your inner resource.

It connects you with your soul.

It connects you with God.

It connects you with light.

It connects you with love.

It connects you with all good things.

You know,

It's not just me saying this.

Mayo Clinic said your mind has the capacity to make you sick or healthy.

Truly,

They said this is from the Mayo Clinic.

When you meditate and when you keep your mind positive,

You have an increased lifespan.

You lower the rate of depression.

You lower levels of distress.

You have greater resistance to the common cold.

You have better psychological and physical well-being.

You have better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

And you have better coping skills during hardships and times of stress.

And I think we're in that hardships and times of stress situation in this day and age.

I'm in my entire life.

I've never seen so many.

I'm challenging things happening.

And I'm going to add one more to this list,

Which I think might help.

Take a news break.

It's so important to,

Yes,

Stay aware of what's going on.

And there's many ways to do that.

But if you could have a half hour of meditating or a half hour of watching the news,

Which one would make you feel better?

I mean,

Come on,

You know,

There's no contest.

If you take that time to meditate,

You will feel better.

You'll find yourself watching the news and buying into the fear.

And you can find yourself even really in the course of a half an hour of watching a newscast on TV,

Getting very upset.

So with all that fear that you're seeing about coronavirus,

It actually can take root in your mind and you have to clear it out.

So I really suggest putting a very powerful white light around you,

A brilliant white light to keep yourself protected from negative energy,

To keep yourself protected from anything that's a disease.

Put a gorgeous,

Beautiful,

Extended white light around you and surround that white light with gold and light.

And see yourself staying positive and open to only the highest good.

And say to yourself,

I choose to hold the highest and the best vision for myself and for all of humanity.

I choose to hold the highest and the best vision for myself and all of humanity.

I choose to stay positive and to believe in the good in humanity.

I choose to remember this too shall pass.

For indeed it will.

And we have to remember that light at the end of the tunnel,

Right?

We have to remember that we are in charge of our bodies and our health and our minds and that we can stay positive and not fall prey to fear.

And we can show our intention to be here to help other people and that you can indeed have the power over your mind and your body.

And you can choose to live your life in happiness fully and not fall prey to that negative energy or that fear.

Be grateful with that attitude of gratitude that really does help you to feel better and it boosts your immunity by being positive.

Follow only the advice from those who are medical professionals who have clear and true help that you can use.

And delete and repel anything that attempts to take you away from your own good and from the good of humanity.

So hold that vision and here's a few prayers and words that I've written the last week that have been coming to me.

Lord,

Hear our prayer.

Let your light come now and the darkness be gone.

Let our hearts be strong.

Let our minds find peace.

In your grace,

Please and help us to get to that place of love inside where we know we will survive.

Lord,

Help us to ease the effects we feel from this disease.

Remove the pain and the suffering and the burden and the strain.

Lead us out of shadows and the darkness to see that light through the pouring rain.

Let us breathe in deep your power to see that we can trust in you and find a way to deal with all that stress and anxiety.

And Lord,

We thank you for those wonderful servants that you bring,

Those wonderful earthly angels who are helping and aiding everyone and everything.

The ones who are kind and able to help get us through.

We say thank you,

Thank you,

Thank you.

And I ask that you heal all those who are ill and give love and compassion for those who are having hard times and serving your will.

For Lord,

We are your children and we are in need of your sacred intervention as we pray for your help.

Please.

Amen.

And now I'm going to do a meditation and we're going to do some deep breathing because breath sweeps mind.

Get relaxed,

Get comfortable,

Go to that wonderful,

Sacred,

Safe place inside and breathe in that light.

Breathe in and call in the light.

Breathe into the count of four.

Count for the count of four.

Allow that light to come out as you breathe out.

Breathing in for the count of five.

Holding and absorbing positive energy for the count of five.

And now breathing love out to your entire body.

Breathing into the count of five.

Feeling good as you hold your breath and breathing that goodness out through your entire body.

Feeling peace,

Feeling calm,

Feeling embraced by that light.

Let's breathe in love to the count of five.

Hold that love and now release that love into your mind,

Into your throat.

Feel your throat clear and able to communicate without fear.

Breathing in love and breathing that love out to your heart.

Allowing your heart chakra to be full of light and love that opens and heals your hearts.

Deeply,

Deeply,

Deeply going into that blossom of love deep inside.

Asking your heart to be there within the heart of all hearts of the creator.

It's the great love of creation.

Put your hand on your heart and breathe in love into your heart,

Breathing it in.

Holding that love,

Feeling that love,

Expanding your entire upper body and breathing out and letting that love go down to the lower parts of your body.

Seeing that sacral chakra filled with love and light.

Let that energy of love and light spin clear any of the emotions that may be held in your lower pelvis area now.

See that light penetrating any emotions and fear and cut the ties of fear.

Seeing all that love going down now to the root chakra.

Why do you think that people are hoarding toilet paper?

Root chakra,

Base fear.

Let's clear that base fear out of there.

Let's let that light enlighten the root chakra with beautiful ruby red energy like a flower of ruby red diamonds all clearing away any darkness and fear.

Breathing in love and light and breathing out that love and light down through your knees,

Through your calves,

Down to your feet.

Know that you can breathe and all of that stress can just be blown out.

Breathe in that love and light and hold it.

And as you exhale now blow out any stress you've been holding on to.

Breathe it out and say relax now.

All is well.

Breathing in light and love.

Totally being surrounded by that light and love and breathing out any tension.

Go back into your head and see if there's any tension in your jaws and your mouth.

Breathing in that relaxation to all of your head area,

Your shoulders.

Starting to realize that you feel good.

You are relaxed.

You are full of light and love.

And know that you are getting better and better and feeling full of this wonderful light.

Acknowledge that you are now in the light of goodness.

Breathe in the light of your soul now.

Go deep into that sacred place in your soul,

That timeless place where God is in control.

See it as a beautiful golden room,

Your place to retreat right now.

And you're sitting in this beautiful,

Beautiful golden room and all is beautiful.

All is well.

And you're feeling the positive energy of the highest light and the highest love completely surrounding you.

Completely healing you.

Completely embracing you with the love of all loves.

Feel that love of all loves that has great compassion for all you've gone through.

Breathe in that compassion.

Allow that compassion to come down into your mind,

Into your heart.

Know here in this golden room of light you are healing yourself right now with positive energy from the highest source.

You are breathing in that positive energy and transforming your entire body to be a vehicle,

A beautiful,

Beautiful torch of light and love.

Know that this light is irradiating any shadows and darkness and that all good things are here right now.

And now put a smile on your face.

Sit here in this beautiful space of peace and light and love and feel the love that you are.

Embrace this love.

Feel that beautiful kiss of light and love embracing you.

Allow yourself to know all is well.

All is well.

Ah,

Feel good.

Know that you can control your state of mind.

With breath,

With light,

With meditation,

With yoga,

With loving acts of kindness,

With a smile and with gratitude,

You have everything you need right here inside that sacred toolbox to control your state of mind and to keep positive.

Now say thank you God and feel the energy of God's great goodness filling your heart and your mind and your soul.

And slowly come out of meditation knowing that you are full of positive energy,

That you feel good right now and that you are so grateful for this wonderful feeling of positive energy,

Of goodness,

Of love,

Of light,

Of peace of mind.

And I'm going to close with the Aramaic version of the Lord's Prayer which goes,

Father,

Mother of the cosmos,

Shimmering light of all,

Focus your light within us as we breathe your holy breath.

Enter the sanctuary of our hearts,

Uniting within us the sacred rays of your power and beauty.

Let our hearts unite with you in loving kindness.

Refill your love Lord and right now feel that love right there.

Enter that sanctuary in your heart and know that that sanctuary is filled with the sacred rays of that power and beauty.

Let your heart's desire unite heaven and earth through our sacred union with that one energy of the creator.

Lord help us fulfill what lies within the circle of our lives today.

Forgive our secret fears as we freely choose to forgive the secret fears of the others.

And let us not enter forgetfulness tempted by false appearances.

For from your astonishing fire comes the eternal song which sanctifies all.

Renewed eternally in our lives and throughout creation.

We seal these words in our hearts committed in trust and faith.

Amen.

And as we say in Hawaii,

A mama,

A mama,

Ua noa,

The prayer is freed.

Stay well,

Stay positive,

Stay loving,

Stay kind,

Stay healthy.

God bless you always.

Reviews

Absolutely beautiful, so helpful as I am recovering from long covid. The mediation and prayer left me smiling and feeling so enriched with love 💗 much graditude to you Rev Cindy

Lovely

🙏☮️Beautiful Thank you!

exactly what I needed this morning.

Thank you for this meditation with practical and helpful information.

Thanks so very much for these beautiful words of love and hope.

Thank you so much for that. It was very helpful and reminded me of my Mom talking to me when I was a child and was sick. Takes all the fear away and replaces it withLove❤️🙏

Thank you 🙏 Many blessings

This was a great combination of reminders of coping tools for stress, prayer and a brief visualization and breath.