Coping With The Pandemic
JACK KORNFIELD WEIGHS IN:
The renowned therapist and Buddhist Monk talks to
David Marchese about how he is trying to
cope with the pandemic.
(Part 1)
A New York Times recent issue (April 19, 2020) had an interview with Jack Kornfield who knows a thing or two about quieting the mind and the body during difficult times. Here’s some relevant excerpts from that interview.
“Epidemics are a part of the cycles of life on this planet. The choice is how we respond. With greed and hatred and fear and ignorance? Or with generosity, clarity, steadiness and love?”
Marchese: Many people reading this are afraid they or a loved one may get the virus. Is there something, even small, that might help us feel a bit steadier?
Kornfield: What’s needed at a time like this is a way to steady the heart. The first step is acknowledgement and the willingness to be present. You could almost whisper to yourself, “sadness, fear, anxiety, grief, longing, as if to bow to that feeling and hold it with respect. The feeling may intensify at first and then it will soften.
If I make space for my feelings because they have to be felt, it’s as if my awareness gets bigger and I can hold all of this with greater ease and compassion.
Marchese: Well that sound like a good thing to do when you’re in bed, How do you do this during the pandemonium and stress of a day in lock-down?
Kornfield: I love the line from the Zen poet Ryoken Taigu. He wrote, “Last year, a foolish monk. This year, no change. Your feelings are your organism, trying to handle things.
The second things is what you teach your kids: Take A Pause. You don’t have to do a formal meditation. When you’re about to snap, take a breath, turn away. Bring that quality of loving awareness and name the feeling gently—upset, bored, frightened, or whatever it might be—and then, almost as if you could put your hand on your heart say: “Thank you for trying to protect me. I’m o.k.”
That can take ten seconds and it allows us to reset. All the good neuroscience on trauma and its release is based on this kind of caring attention.