Meditation For COVID, Cold, Flu, Or Allergies

Feeling under the weather? Experiencing cold, flu, allergies, or other congestion can make meditation seem impossible. Time to find some zest in your rest! Try this short guided practice to experience mindful relaxation in the midst of your body's recovery.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

Today we're going to be meditating with a cold or flu or some other kind of congestion,

Perhaps some allergies.

And just to up the ante on this guided practice,

I am going to be guiding it with you today while I myself have a cold.

So here we go.

I invite you to start by closing your eyes.

Affirm your intention as you settle into a comfortable position that although your nose may be clogged,

Although your body might be achy and just feeling off,

There's still the capacity here to experience true presence and to find a sense of rest in the midst of our body's healing.

So let's infuse that intention of rest into the breath here.

Lean back into your seat.

Feel the gravity connect you to the ground,

Allow your body to soften as much as you can right here.

If it's hard to breathe through the nose,

You can sip the breath in through the mouth or if it's possible to breathe through the nose,

Even if it's a little slower today or maybe even a little labored,

That's okay.

Just breathe in a way that feels the most natural with that sense of rest.

Take a moment here and pay attention to your symptoms without feeling the immediate instinct to judge how you feel or feel sorry for yourself.

What does it feel like to be having this experience of illness?

Where do you notice it most?

Can you bring yourself to just be with whatever sensations are present,

Whatever feelings you have in your body,

Whatever weird liquids and mucus is moving through you right now instead of resisting the fact that it's happening today?

Can you rest in the middle of it all?

Can you accept that this is your current state?

Can you breathe into a state of surrender?

Can you breathe into a state of surrender?

Gathering your attention,

Placing it back on the breath.

Not trying to get anywhere,

Not trying to feel a certain way.

With each inhale,

The only thing to do is breathe in.

With each exhale,

The only thing to do is breathe out.

Rest in the simplicity of this process,

Just breathing.

And as we bring this practice to a close now,

I invite you to give yourself a little self massage here.

You can bring your hands up to your face and maybe you can tap your forehead in between your eyebrows.

You can massage the muscles around your cheeks.

You can move your fingers down the bridge of your nose and massage around your nose,

Opening up the sinuses.

Move it up to your ears and your neck.

Sometimes this could be really good when our body's healing to just give it a little extra loving and TLC.

Feel free to start stretching your body,

Neck rolls,

Shoulder rolls,

Moving and wiggling your fingers and toes.

And that's it.

That's a cold meditation.

I had a friend who was a Zen monk in San Francisco and I was invited to a practice with him one day and I was sick and I said,

What do the Zen teachers say to do when you're sick?

And he says,

Ah,

Yes,

Just be sick.

That's what he told me.

Just be sick.

So over the course of this day or these next few days,

However it takes for your body to recover,

I really encourage you to find a sense of rest,

Non-resistance to the experience.

See what being sick has to teach you.

Perhaps there's an important lesson waiting for you somewhere.

And the lesson for me right now is to drink some lemon water and go take a nap.

So I'll thank you for joining me here.

Hope you feel better soon and enjoy the rest.

Reviews

Thank you hopefully I’ll feel better soon but for now, I’ll just be sick 🙏

The advice from the zen teacher really struck a chord. Fantastic 😊😍

Sometimes I get the most out of the simplest practices. This is one of those times. I especially appreciated how he was experiencing the very thing I needed help with.

This was a great reminder and practice of presence and obervation of what is,

"Just be sick". I loved that. I fought through this whole cold and it would have been better to surrender. Thank you !

Exactly what I needed: “be sick,” don’t resist it. The voice and humor helped.

Excelent. I had a cold and this meditation helped me relax. Thank you. 🙏😴🙏

Just what I needed. Somehow I don’t feel alone. :)

Thank you for reminding me to “just be sick” when I’m sick.

I needed this. The permission to just be sick. Thank you! 🙏🏻

Thank you, Nate. 🙏 A soothing reminder and practice while I’m recovering from a head cold, “just be sick & rest.”

Feeling a little under the weather so this was perfect - thank you

Lovely meditation, thanks for the support and the reminder to just be sick 🤧

This helped me feel settled and ready to rest while dealing with a wicked head cold. TY 💓

Very nice, helped me soften and find rest in a more non-resistant state. Thank you!

I don't know why there aren't more meditations like this one when you're feeling under the weather, but I'm sure glad I came across it, and thankful for the offering. It was short and simple but comforting.

This is a sweet, delightful little meditation, friendly, straightforward, and down to earth. I really liked the self-loving massage encouragement at the end, and the whimsical little anecdote about the Zen advice for what to do when sick: “Just be sick.” 🤪

Who knew?!?

And there is something to be learned from illness sometimes, if one pays attention.

Thank you. 🙏🏼

I have covid for the first time after 5 years of avoiding it. It has been so humbling and emotional. This meditation has given me a bit of surrender and respite.

That's was perfect, thank you, I listened to the meditation whilst I steamed my head/face over a big bowl of hot water with healing herbs in. I wouldn't have done this had I not been ill, nor would I have chosen this meditation, so I am grateful to my cold for helping me to slow down and care for myself in this way. Thank you for a wonderful meditation 🧘🏻‍♀️ ✨️ 🙏🏾 ❤️

I have a horrible cough, sore throat and headache and was going to skip my meditation. However I found this one and I loved it. It really helped to realise I just need to accept I'm ill at the moment, my body needs rest. Loved the bit at the end too, I like a bit of humour. Thank you so much.