The Power of Connecting in a Time of Social Distancing

How is the #SocialDistancing #quarantine life going, worldwide fam? In an effort to stay sane and elevate this state of corona crazy, I’ve been sharing stories, doing interviews with heroes/helpers and curating info that will help you keep your mind, body and spirit healthy.

But I’ll be real… I have moments.

Moments of slight panic, but before I get too far down the rabid rabbit hole of despondency, I remember to stop and take some deep breaths. I’ve been doing much more meditation — like 30 to 40 minutes daily, y’all.

This morning, for some reason, it felt harder to get into my numb-flying-divine state of being while meditating.

One moment, I’m feeling OK. “I got this, we are in this together, we are not alone,” have become soothing mantras. Then it seeps in — the news, the rise in coronavirus cases and death toll. So many people losing jobs, businesses, family members.

Most of the time, focusing back on my breath helps restore my mind. But the other one percent, I start to worry. That happened today. It was difficult to stay calm. So, I was moved to move my body and I called for backup.

Since I haven’t been going to gyms or cramped public spaces to socially distance myself, I had an idea. I called up my beloved San Francisco CrossFit 8:30 a.m. crew and a few of us (thanks Jen and Dan) got together to do a virtual workout.

For the first time ever, we did this awesome “Workout of the Day” that Dan found on the SFCF website. (Thanks for posting the home workouts).

We also talked about our faith and our fears. Fear of the unknown — and having faith in humanity and the powers that be.

Here’s a recap and some fun video of our workout:

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1. Move your body. The body, mind and spirit are a trifecta and work with one another to elevate our mood and keep our whole body healthy.

2. Elevate your spirit through community. One of the things that I miss most about our PSD (or what I call “Pre-Social Distancing”) are human connections. Hugs, high-fives, handshakes — the warm embrace of energy that collides when you share a meal or have some tea/coffee with someone you adore IRL. Unfortunately, we have to socially distance to flatten the curve, but we can still share and care.

Jen mentioned that families in her San Francisco neighborhood are getting together from a distance to help one another. From cooking, running errands and going grocery shopping for the elderly and immunocompromised.

3. Keep a routine. Jen spoke about how important it is for her, as a mother, to keep the calm by creating and sticking to a regular schedule.

4. Talk technology. We are so lucky to live in a time when we have the technology to see one another and have real-time conversations without actually being in the same place. Let’s take it a step further: virtual dinners/gatherings/workouts. I felt 100,000,000 times better yesterday when I got on an impromptu WhatsApp group chat with some of my best friends. We LAUGHED, SNORTED and… well, the other part of the convo will stay between us, LOL!

5. Tune in/out the news. Just watch or read enough news to be informed, but don’t get sucked in to the fear. Stick to the facts. I have been turning to my online community of friends, spiritual teachers and artists/celebrities I follow on Instagram to lift my spirits.

Trevor Noah (@TrevorNoah) had an amazing #AWholeNewSong as he sang from the balcony (Warning: there was some cussing in the background, LOL). His post inspired the first 10 seconds of my video today.

Iyanla Vanzant (@IyanlaVanzant) is sharing spiritual golden nuggets and wisdom for parents who are homeschooling their kids.

Please share any positive sources/people you’re peeping on IG/FB. Check out the heroes/helpers I chatted with in Go Inspire Go’s blog.

One of the greatest life lessons from this pandemic is that WE are all in this together. Keep the vibe positive, laugh and love on one another. We all have time to do that now, more than ever.

Love,
Toan

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