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Episode 019 How to Break Out of the Perpetual Groundhog’s Day Cycle in Our COVID-19 Normal
Podcast #019 How to Break Out of the Perpetual Groundhog's Day Cycle in Our COVID-19 Normal

Episode 019 How to Break Out of the Perpetual Groundhog’s Day Cycle in Our COVID-19 Normal

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In this podcast episode, we talk about how to break out of the perpetual Groundhog’s Day cycle brought on by our Stay-at-Home order in our COVID-19 normal.  

Links to resources/articles referenced in the episode:

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, and welcome to the Sally in the Zen podcast. I’m your host, Sally. I’m a Zen Buddhist caregiver, taking care of my elderly folks, and always in pursuits to find Zen moments in everyday living. If you’re new to the podcast, welcome! Glad to have you.  If you’re not new and you’re returning for more, welcome back my friends.

I don’t know how you folks feel about this but ever since the Stay-at-Home order was issued in the State of Pennsylvania, it feels like we’ve been living a Groundhog’s day over and over and over. And it wasn’t until the second full week was over that I actually took action. What I mean by this is that, to keep my sanity, and to make this Groundhog’s day cycle unique with each passing day, I sketched out an outline for a plan for the way forward. And I wanted to share what I did with you so that you can, maybe, get inspired, and ideas from what I did, ‘cause if you feel the same as I do, wanting to end the feel of a Groundhog’s Day, then that’s what today’s episode is all about.

The other motivation why I made a plan for myself was the fact that caregivers, first and foremost, have to take care of themselves. And if you’re not able to take care of yourself, how are you expected to take care of the people that you’re responsible for and that need you? 

So if you’re ready let’s go.

Let me just put my normal disclaimer out there before I begin, that everything I say on today’s episode are my opinions, and my opinions alone. I’m not sponsored by anyone to say the things that I’m going to say on this episode. Just so we’re clear.With that out of the way, let’s move on to the episode. 

So let’s do our regular check-in for the latest milestones that happen since our last podcast which is a couple weeks ago.  We just ended our 6th week Stay-at-Home, going into our 7th week. Actually we’re in the middle of the 7th week when this episode is published on Wednesday; with no real end in sight to the stay-at-home order. 

The latest milestone happened in the week of April 12th where it is now mandatory in the State of PA to have face masks. So when you go out shopping or be in places where social distancing of the 6-feet can’t be maintained, you have to have a face mask or else the stores won’t let you in.

And a check in with my own parents. They’re suffering from cabin fever but doing well. They’re glued to the TV. They’re glued to Netflix. They’re glued to Prime Videos, and this puts me at a disadvantage because, keep in mind, I’m working from home so I have my bedroom door closed but that doesn’t mean anything, because when it’s time for them to see a movie when they feel like they’ve seen enough of the news, that they need to have a movie running, they would come into my room and get me out of whatever I’m doing; because I have a tendency to somehow, inherently, pick really good movies that they like. And it’s a combination of Jackie Chan movies, Asian movies, Mandarin speaking movies, and just literally the other day, John Wick 3. Highly recommended it – two thumbs up. You can’t see my thumbs up but I’m giving you, giving it two thumbs up especially from Pop because he was crazy about that too. So that puts more pressure and more stress on me; it’s mounting on me to be able to continue to find good movies that they like. It’s a lot of pressure, people, it’s a lot of pressure.

Now that we’re caught up on the milestones and my family, let’s move on to the plan that I was talking about earlier on the onset of the episode. 

So it was at the second week, the conclusion of the second full stay at home week where I actually put pen to paper on a plan forward. And what I mean specifically by that, is I truly believe at a very, very high and spiritual level, that what we in the world are going through, right now, is a reset period. I actually heard that word from a YouTube video last week and that just resonated with me because it’s so on target with what I’m doing, with how I feel about what’s going on in our lives. And it’s unusual where we have a global pandemic, a global crisis, where the whole entire world is impacted, and it’s not exclusive to a nation, it’s not exclusive to a region or a state, it’s not exclusive in that kind of specificity.  The whole world is feeling this. The whole world is moving together, chapter and verse, into history at this time.  And it’s mind-blowing when you think about that.

But when you take a step back from the actual ramifications of what this crisis is creating – joblessness, shortages of one thing after another – that kind of thing, when we pull higher away from that, it’s a reset. It’s a timeout except the clock is ticking. It’s a pause but the time is still running, if that makes any sense. 

It’s essentially a reset period.

So I felt the need to put pen to paper on a path forward so that, let me, let me take a step back.  Going into this stay at home period, where we’re all stuck at home, the Stay-at-Home order, basically, was, to me – and I’m a very visual person, I’m very visual-oriented and picture and image-oriented – it was essentially us going into a dark tunnel. We are at home. We’re not able to do the normal social things that we normally do, going out to dinner, hanging out with friends. To me, this was like entering the tunnel, a tunnel that has no end in sight. 

So what I felt compelled to do was sit down and figure out a plan forward so that when this is all over, and it will be over.  It’s going to be a different kind of normal for all of us, but for me specifically, the plan that I had put pen to paper to, the plan that I have thought out was:

  • what did I want to look like 
  • how did I want to feel like when we emerged out of the tunnel? 

I definitely knew that I wanted to come out of the tunnel better, more equipped. We’re obviously going to be more experienced, having gone through this strange event in history. But I wanted to use this reset period to learn and to cultivate and to grow emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, all of those good things. 

So essentially what I did was create a goal. I set a goal and then I made a plan with steps to achieving that goal.  Because for me, I need to have a focus because if I don’t have a focus and have too much time on my hands, I don’t know what to do. I feel rudderless. I feel like I’m going nowhere and that’s where my anxiety will build. That’s where my stress will increase and all those things that you know come along with that package.

So what I did was set a goal focusing on how did I want to look, and feel, and be, when we emerge from this tunnel, when the reset period is over, when the pause button is released, and  we’re now play. 

So where I began with that is, after I put down my goal, the plan, the action steps came from a resource that I had referenced in an earlier episode, specifically Episode 11, when I had kicked off the Wellness Series.

Now I’m looking at the Six Dimensions of the Wellness model, and this came from the National Wellness.org site. I’ll attach the PDF and the link to the site in the show notes and all the other resources that I’ll be using in a little bit.

Now the Six Dimensions of the Wellness model are as follows: occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional. So what I want to do is touch briefly on what the definitions are according to the Model and then give, hopefully, tangible takeaways for you to implement in your own life as you see fit, because I hope it helps. Every little thing helps, I think.

So starting with Occupational. It’s exactly as you already know occupational to be, so I’m not going to go into that particular definition. But instead I would like to offer some resources, some free YouTube channel resources, for those of you who may be impacted but even if you’re not materially impacted as in you haven’t lost your job, these resources are pretty interesting and pretty valuable and I listen to them.  You just never know where ideas come from and it’s all about the more you know.

So the first one I want to recommend is Chris Guillebeau (g u i l l e b e a u) and he just started his YouTube channel called The Money Tree. Now although he’s new on YouTube, he is not new with what he talks about, which is online businesses, um, starting own business. I discovered him through his long-running podcast called The Side Hustle School. And it’s a great show. It’s like no more than 10 minutes long each episode and he does it every single day with real ideas, real people who actually are out there doing the side hustle. It’s a really great show.

The next resource I want to put out there is also a YouTube channel called Project Life Mastery and that’s with Stefan James and he does the same thing, offer business advice, give you ideas on how to do startups, how to become an entrepreneur.  So he’s kind of like the same lines of Chris Guillebeau except in a different kind of vein but he’s fun to listen to.

And the third resource that I’m going to recommend also I discovered through his podcast called The Smart Passive Income, and on YouTube, he has a show, a series that’s called the Income Stream and as of this recording, I saw his latest one which was Income Stream Day 42. Pat is fun and he’s knowledgeable just like Stefan and Chris, and I highly recommend these three resources for you to get ideas for passive income or to become an entrepreneur or simply to generate diversification of income. If you have multiple income streams coming from different sources, that would be ideal rather than just having one particular job where you’re dependent 100% on that one income source.

So the Second Dimension of the Wellness Model is Physical.  So Physical dimension recognizes the need for regular physical activity. That’s a no-brainer so I’ll stop right there with the definition. So physical means to me – exercise and nutrition. I already have, on the calendar during third quarter, like November time, before Thanksgiving, an actual doctor’s physical and I have that set every single year, where all the normal things are checked out – the blood pressure, your cholesterol, your, if you have diabetes, that kind of thing – my regular checkup.  And the one thing I always keep an eye on that, I need to manage, and I managed it pretty well last year, was my cholesterol level. So no matter what’s happening out there in the world, I’m still focusing on maintaining my cholesterol, so exercising every day, 30 minutes a day, usually in the morning time for 5 to 6 days. So it can be stretching, yoga, cardio, strength training, but it’s 30 minutes on my calendar. I follow that religiously.  And the two online classes that I use are Gaia and Les Mills on Demand because they have actually outstanding music and an outstanding track, and it’s catered to whatever fits your schedule, which as I said earlier, was 30 minutes, for me.

So between exercising everyday, I tried to maintain my eye on the prize with food and not over indulge in stuff because of stress-eating.  Because I can tell you for the first two weeks of the Stay-at-Home, I was stress eating, which ultimately led me to sit down and just say, I need a path forward. I need direction. I need guidance, and I need better food. 

So my goal with the physical element was to end each day feeling good inside, feeling good about my body, feeling good with the fact that I actually worked out and ate relatively well and that was my goal for the physical element.

Now the next element is Social. Social Dimension encourages contributing to one’s environment and community. And I’ll stop right there because we already know what social is and we’re stuck at home. But I wanted to point out something, that social distancing is very different from physical distancing which is what to stay at home order is about to me. Social distancing doesn’t have to mean that you don’t reach out and talk to somebody through FaceTime or your cell phone or your computer or social media. You still have and need contact with family and friends, and I’m blessed where my mother and father live with me and I can just get a hug from them very easily every single day. And I feel bad for those who can’t see their parents because of fear of bringing back home the Coronavirus. So when I hear stories of actual people being isolated with no outside contact, it just breaks my heart.

Moving onto the next dimension, which is the Intellectual dimension. The Intellectual dimension recognizes one’s creative, stimulating mental activities. A well person expands his or her knowledge and skills while discovering the potential for sharing his or her gifts with others. Using intellectual and cultural activities in the classroom and beyond a classroom combined with the human resources and learning resources available within the university community and the larger community, a well-person cherishes intellectual growth and stimulation. Traveling a wellness path, you’ll explore issues related to problem solving, creativity and learning. You’ll spend more time pursuing personal interests and reading books, magazines, newspapers and keeping abreast of current events and issues and ideas, and I’ll stop here with their definition.

Now obviously, classrooms are not happening. Everything is done online through online classes but in terms of how I translated that particular dimension for my wellness – I love problem solving; I’m creative; I love learning; I love always learning but I do follow what it actually said – that I do keep current with the news, just to be informed and as soon as I get my fill of what’s going on with the current events, I’d turn it off and proceed with my day, continue on. And I just walk away because I can’t be plugged into the news like that, I can’t do it and that’s a sanity check for myself, right. And also other ways of being creative is keeping up with my podcast and writing on Medium and my blog.

The next dimension is Spiritual. So the definition of Spiritual is recognizing our search for meaning and purpose in human existence. This is like my bread and butter, just because yeah, I am Zen Buddhist and this is meditation practice. What I mean by that is, that, I regularly meditate as a practice everyday.  And ever since the Stay- at-Home happened, I upped the ante by meditating more deeply with guided meditations, and for longer periods of time. So on a normal day, I would do 30 minutes to 45 minutes in the morning and the same at night. So that’s twice a day meditation period. 

It makes me feel good coming out of it and I’m more focused and aware. And it all depends on your intention when you meditate, if you want to meditate to find peace within yourself, if you want to meditate to gather your thoughts, if you want to meditate just to chill out. It’s different intentions and it’s all the same – it’s just relaxing your mind and, no, I’m not pushing anyone to do meditation. I’m just saying this is the reason why it’s my bread and butter – it calms me down and this is my center as, being straight up, a Zen Buddhist.

Let me give you two resources that I highly recommend, also a YouTube resource, Dr Joe Dispenza (d i s p e n z a). Now he has a show on Gaia and Gaia is a paid app but paid community so but he has a YouTube channel that shares his beliefs on meditation, his thoughts on the universe. And I think he’s pretty compelling and he makes you think about the things that he’s talking about and it’s only through repetition, repeated exposure to his teachings, that it begins to make sense. At least it did for me anyway. 

Now Dr Joe wrote Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself – How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One.  And it’s an excellent book.

And the second resource is Dr Wayne Dyer (d y e r) – Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life. This book is compelling and thought provoking, and it’s not a normal book that you would just sit and read in one sitting. That’s not how the book is structured. You read the lessons, and the lessons that he draws from is the Tao (t a o).  And if you really want deep thinking about the universe, about that kind of thing, Dr Wayne Dyer’s book is phenomenal.

Now the last wellness dimension is the Emotional dimension. It recognizes awareness and acceptance of one’s feelings. Emotional wellness includes the degree to which one feels positive and enthusiastic about one’s self and life, so I’ll stop right there with the definition. That is essentially the motivation for me planning out a path forward because, like I said in the beginning of this podcast, I want to come out of this tunnel better, stronger, in every single one of these dimensions and having to use that time that we’re given in this reset, and to develop into a better person than the person that first entered that tunnel.  

So that brings us to the end of today’s episode. Hope you enjoyed it. I hope I was able to give you some resources that were helpful for you. Now if you have any questions or comments, just pop over to my blog SallyintheZen.com. Go over to the Contact page and drop me a line or you can DM me on Instagram under SallyintheZen. 

I wish you and your family happy, healthy days and I thank you, thank you, thank you so much for joining me in today’s episode and joining me in my pursuits to find Zen moments in everyday living. Talk to you soon.

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