Notes From the Fields: Thoughts On How to Thrive During Corona
This evening I was able to participate in a webinar of BIPOC farmers and food justice activists. There was a panel of speakers that shared tips and information on how we might consider moving through this quarantine, and make out better than we started. I’m just going to share a few of the highlights that I felt were truly important to share. (These speakers were actually doctors, etc. People with a deeper knowledge than myself. When we receive the links I’ll add those to this post- if I remember.)
How to care for:
The home:
Lots of ventilation. When you are at home, and as long as the weather permits, open windows and doors to get the air flowing.
Limit the number of people you visit. That does NOT mean, having one or two different people you meet up with each day. That means choosing one or two people that you meet up with repeatedly and ONLY those one or two people.
Make sure to clean the surfaces you touch the most. Door handles, walls, banisters, refrigerator handles, etc.
The Body:
Go outside, to nature, get fresh air. This can be your backyard, a walk, a hike, etc.
There is no evidence that it’s transmitted by food, at all. That being said, make sure to wash your food thoroughly. I would also add, to wash off cans, etc before you open them. This will help prevent exposure if someone unwittingly touched your food before knowing they’ve got symptoms.
Make sure to breathe, and focus on calming your breath.
Make sure to eat nutrient rich foods, especially foods that boost your immune system. (herbs, leafy greens, beans, lentils, etc.) Homemade is better than canned, but use what you got.
Avoid sugar, coffee (it’s dehydrating), smoking, alcohol (dehydrating) etc. Avoid anything that will compromise your lungs as this particular virus attacks the respiratory system.
Get your heart rate up with exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. Exercise increases your bodies ability to fight off infection. It also will fight off the increased levels of cortisol, brought on by the stress and anxiety, that will manifest in excess fat.
Rest. Make sure that you’re getting a good night’s sleep and/ or taking naps when needed. When you check in with loved ones, encourage them to rest as well.
Consider intermittent fasting to encourage detoxing for the body.
STAY HYDRATED. Drink lots of water. Also, if you don’t already use a humidifier.
Protect the lungs at all costs.
If you’re anxiety is preventing you from eating, etc. consider gentle herbs, foods, and teas that will help you to relax, thereby allowing you to eat. Also, hydrating foods, can make the process of eating easier. (think fresh fruits and vegetables)
The Mind:
Trust the experts in the medical field and those within your community. There are people with actual real knowledge on whom you can rely to give you good information. Medical personnel and community leaders can help give you accurate information.
If you are able to see a mental health professional, consider adding more appointments so that you can work through your concerns as they arise.
I’d add, find time for laughter and levity
Revisit your faith, teachings of your elders/ leaders, etc. Revisit teachings that give you comfort in times of stress.
Meditation, prayer, set intentions, create plans for the future (post quarantine) with your community
Sing
Your communities (family, etc):
Create systems of solidarity. Determine who your circle is and check in with one another periodically. Keep track of where you go and what you do when sharing updates with one another. (Should one of you become exposed, this will help keep a record of who else may have been exposed.) Keeping a community is going to be very important. It will help mitigate your fears and worries.
Develop systems of mutual aid. This can manifest in childcare, meals, etc.
Get to know your ancestors/ lineage, and their practices of faith and healing
Work on projects together (gardens, art, etc)
What to do if you have signs illness/ symptoms:
CALL YOUR DOCTOR, do NOT go into the office. If you have contracted it you will then expose everyone who goes to that office to the virus. Call your doctor and they can direct you to where to get tested. This limits the potential exposure to others, AND allows healthcare providers the ability to care for those with other ailments that are unrelated to the virus. There are testing facilities being set up all over the country. Your doctor will know where to send you. If you don’t have a doctor, call the hospital, or google where to get tested in your area.
I hope that this information is helpful to you. And one of the speakers said:
“Resilience and resistence is in [our] DNA.“
We don’t need to fear. We just need to take care of ourselves and others. If we work together we will be able to come out of this stronger than we started.
The closing speaker shared the following poem (and if you follow my IG/ FB you probably already read it, but I wanted to share it again.
An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans
Stop. Just stop.
It is no longer a request. It is a mandate.
We will help you.
We will bring the supersonic, high speed merry-go-round to a halt
We will stop
the planes
the trains
the schools
the malls
the meetings
the frenetic, furied rush of illusions and “obligations” that keep you from hearing our
single and shared beating heart,
the way we breathe together, in unison.
Our obligation is to each other,
As it has always been, even if, even though, you have forgotten.
We will interrupt this broadcast, the endless cacophonous broadcast of divisions and distractions,
to bring you this long-breaking news:
We are not well.
None of us; all of us are suffering.
Last year, the firestorms that scorched the lungs of the earth
did not give you pause.
Nor the typhoons in Africa,China, Japan.
Nor the fevered climates in Japan and India.
You have not been listening.
It is hard to listen when you are so busy all the time, hustling to uphold the comforts and conveniences that scaffold your lives.
But the foundation is giving way,
buckling under the weight of your needs and desires.
We will help you.
We will bring the firestorms to your body
We will bring the fever to your body
We will bring the burning, searing, and flooding to your lungs
that you might hear:
We are not well.
Despite what you might think or feel, we are not the enemy.
We are Messenger. We are Ally. We are a balancing force.
We are asking you:
To stop, to be still, to listen;
To move beyond your individual concerns and consider the concerns of all;
To be with your ignorance, to find your humility, to relinquish your thinking minds and travel deep into the mind of the heart;
To look up into the sky, streaked with fewer planes, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, smoky, smoggy, rainy? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy?
To look at a tree, and see it, to notice its condition: how does its health contribute to the health of the sky, to the air you need to be healthy?
To visit a river, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, clean, murky, polluted? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy? How does its health contribute to the health of the tree, who contributes to the health of the sky, so that you may also be healthy?
Many are afraid now.
Do not demonize your fear, and also, do not let it rule you. Instead, let it speak to you—in your stillness,
listen for its wisdom.
What might it be telling you about what is at work, at issue, at risk, beyond the threats of personal inconvenience and illness?
As the health of a tree, a river, the sky tells you about quality of your own health, what might the quality of your health tell you about the health of the rivers, the trees, the sky, and all of us who share this planet with you?
Stop.
Notice if you are resisting.
Notice what you are resisting.
Ask why.
Stop. Just stop.
Be still.
Listen.
Ask us what we might teach you about illness and healing, about what might be required so that all may be well.
We will help you, if you listen.
-Kristin Flyntz