The coronavirus has changed everything and it seems that the road back to “normal life” will be a long and winding one.
Worldwide, people are feeling lonely, stressed, grief-stricken, anxious, overwhelmed, and out of control. And the longer we shelter-in-place, the more intense these feelings become.
According to TIME magazine,
“Roughly 70% of Americans experienced moderate-to-severe mental distress last month.”
If you are struggling through this time, you are not alone.
To help support our team and our audience, we invited global yoga instructor and entrepreneur, Allison English, Founder of Yoga By Allison, on the Brand Lab Series™ podcast to talk about rethinking mental and physical health during coronavirus.
Allison said,
“The number one thing people have been asking me is,
‘What do I do about my extraordinarily high levels of anxiety?’
You should have something that you do every day – like meditation – that is a reminder of normalcy.”
Meditation has become increasingly popular in recent years and thousands of studies show the positive impact a meditation practice can have on mental and physical health.
According to Forbes, meditation can help people preserve an aging brain, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve concentration and attention, recover from addiction, and more.
Starting a mediation practice can feel intimidating, especially during a chaotic time like this when quieting your mind can feel almost impossible. However, Allison explained that a simple meditation practice can still be an effective one.
Allison said,
“When you’re first starting out, begin with something like mindful breathing because you always have breath with you. There’s no special training that’s required to sit down and feel your own breath.”
And if AE Marketing Group CEO, Brian Walker, can try mediation you can too.
Brian started exploring mediation back in January and it has become a daily routine.
“As I am constantly ‘on,’ mediation was hard at first as it required a purposeful pause,” Brian said. “However, that pause is more critical than ever to help me stay calm and focused as both a business owner and dad during the coronavirus.”
If you are interested in learning more about meditation, check out our podcast episode with Allison English on your favorite listening platform.