WELL HEART: Restore Your Peace And Sanity During nCoV

By Hannah Northcott

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I was barely balancing the emotional titter tatter of the "Should we stay or should we go?" question when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern over the outbreak of the coronavirus. It probably didn’t help that I watched the streaming at 5:00 in the morning on the first day of my period.

I hugged the throw pillow on the couch and cried.

“We’re stuck and screwed,” I thought.

While the WHO did not recommend travel and trade restrictions, major airlines cancelled flights to China, the US declared a level four travel warning and at least a couple of countries evacuated people from the embassies in Beijing.

Several friends and colleagues left China the next day and a multitude of fears assaulted my mind, the biggest of which was “what if a travel ban was declared and we couldn’t leave even if we wanted to?”

The mental titter tatter shifted heavily to the “leave side” and it took all my strength to not fall off.

The thing is, we couldn’t leave anyway because my daughters’ passports were expiring in August.

So we’re staying; not for any valiant or noble reason but because we had to.

I could fight it or I can find peace with it. I chose the latter. But how did I ground my restless mind?

These are the steps I have taken:

a.    I shared with my husband about how I was feeling and we chatted about the pros and cons of leaving vs. staying. Having an honest conversation allowed us to process the situation, our emotions, and the options for our family. We came to a shared understanding and decision on what we wanted to do.

b.    I called a friend who is working for the WHO to get factual information about the coronavirus and she confirmed that the WHO did not advocate evacuations for expats in Beijing. Though the virus is highly contagious, the fatality rate is between 1-3% and most severly affecting people in the older age bracket with existing pre-conditions. She said that we could keep calm and use the recommended prevention measures to reduce our chance of infection.

c.    I practiced “Magical Mornings”, a grounding exercise that focuses on gratitude, vision casting, movement, prayer and meditation that has put my mind, soul, heart and body at ease. During my lowest point, I prayed and meditated on Jeremiah 29 and Psalm 91; it gave me peace and the reassurance that we are where we needed to be. My faith has been a source of comfort and strength throughout the years and biblical verses have often been a source of personal guidance.

Tim Keller shared in a podcast that it was through times of sorrow and suffering that we become who we want to be and really, one can barely call this suffering.

d.    I made a list of dreams and goals that I can work on during this time. Rilke wrote - “For the creator there is no poverty and no poor, indifferent place.” 

One of my goals for example was to declutter our house and thanks to the Well Declutter challenge and Astra’s guidance, I’ve nearly achieved that goal! Clear space. Clear mind.

e.    We have friends and colleagues who have also chosen to stay and we're connecting with our community through WeChat, playdates, walks, coffees, etc. The feeling of loneliness and isolation can be debilitating and knowing that we’re not alone has been helpful. 

f.     I have a fitness plan and lead the Well Fitness group where women do 30-40 minute exercises in their own home.  Moving my body has been essential; I feel better after exercising.

g.    I will try to stay away from social media that makes the situation sound graver than it actually is.

The ripple of this event has gone beyond the borders of Beijing. I hope these tools can help settle the storm within you, wherever you are.

Limited time offer to join fitness group for the next challenge beginning on 9 February 2020. Registration will close at 5:00 PM on Wednesday 5 February. Scan the QR code and take a step towards your fitness today, add Hannah on WeChat: Hannah_Northcott, or send a message to WellWomen with the words 'Well Fitness'.

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