Covid 19 - How can we help? — The Mind Body Project

Warning: Brain Re-Wiring in Process

Slow and Steady Updates

Last November I was in China offering mindfulness and emotional intelligence work that feels like the highlight of my career. After a busy fall, I decided to return home to the US and deep dive into myself. 2019 was a really tough year for my family, so it was my intention to gain some strength and perspective through self reflection.

In December I visited my favorite health practitioners in Charlottesville and headed to Vera Cruz, Mexico for my first ten-day silent meditation retreat. (Vipassana has a pay it forward model so every person can afford to attend.) Amidst trying to stay warm and awake in our sparse but loving quarters, I learned more about moving energy and going in and out of my own dark places. I conquered a fear of not sweating for ten days, and practiced appreciating the little things. I also learned more about the roots of mindfulness, and how it has evolved into broader application.

After Mexico I completed my 500-hr Yoga certification in India, which ended up more like personal rehab for my sciatica than teaching. I did put together a solid sequence for a tight chest and low back pain which I’m looking forward to sharing soon. I visited the stunning red cliffs of Kerala and learned a bit more about Ayurvedic healing through Pancha Karma.

And then! From the moment I got home, I was sick. First a chest infection, then the flu. After two rounds of antibiotics, work with the hospital systems was indefinitely halted and we’ve been advised to physically distance in the United States to flatten the curve for COVID-19.

And you know what? This is where I need to be. I’m incredibly grateful that I can stay slow, and that many of you are here, doing that with me. Sometimes (many times) I feel like the pace of the world is just too incredibly fast, and it makes me uncomfortable. I feel like my mindfulness practice (or whatever you want to call it) introduced me to the secret of noticing. And now, as we reflect and respond, I'm glad we are all breathing again together, especially Mother Earth. As much as we might be pulled against our wills to stop, we HAVE to. We are being forced to realize what is essential in our lives, and in our world. We are being forced to realize that when it comes to a virus, boarders don’t exist…perhaps that means they never did.

At the moment I’m pretty in love with the quote:

“What is here now is everywhere and what is not, is nowhere to be found.”
-Vishnasara

This is so true in the times of a global pandemic. What is here now has always been here, the danger, the love, the struggle, the calm. Whatever you felt before November, whatever you feel now, it has always been here, or it never existed at all. What we choose to focus on becomes our world. (Also, if I may, we may be realizing how amazing our teachers, nurses and food providers REALLY are.)

So my question is, how can I help?
(And HERE is some additional medically sound advice)
-Erin

Nov 2020 Beijing Trauma Informed Facilitation Training

2020 Offerings

To me, the greatest human tools during challenging times and healing are breath, movement and intelligence gained through experience.

If you have ever wanted to learn about breathwork and the nervous system, meditation, yoga or mindfulness, why not do it now? If you’ve wanted to make the switch from coffee to tea, how about try it out? If you’ve wanted to develop your understanding of being sensitive to the trauma sensitive needs of others, we can do that. And if you are looking for ways to get innovative during these times, I have thoughts and tools to develop that mindset. (Effectuation)

It’s times like this that I think of Leah Crane, a TMBP faithful and super strong Momma. Her first mantra was, “I can do hard things.” Thanks Leah.

I don’t have any traditional work right now which feels instability and opportunity. If you want to learn something, do something or say something, would you shoot me a message and let me know what it might be? I’d like to put together some offerings so that when we are safe and healthy again, we are showing up even more for ourselves and the people around us.

Oh, and here's a free yoga class I recorded a few years ago. (Thanks to Geoff Cox!)
Code: dinoarms

30 Hour Trainings

Facilitators and Reshma’s Ayurvedic Cuisine

China Training and Thoughts

And…my heart is so full from the strength and love I’ve witnessed in our China wellness community, they have given me the foresight and strength to have a positive perspective for the trials we will face in the United States and beyond. We recently certified four new Trauma Sensitive Facilitators who are providing support around the world, and I could not be more proud of these caring and brave teachers.

Congrats to:

Christy Mendenhall, elementary teacher in Qingdao, China

Karen Horworth, licensed therapist in Beijing, China

Monika Gorowska, PhD behavioral psychologist in Moscow, Russia

Christa Nel, elementary teacher in Durban, South Africa