The Coronavirus epidemic continues unabated, the world over. What can we do to stay as safe as possible?

No amount of water in an ocean can sink a ship, unless the ship develops a leak or a hole. Likewise, no virus can affect us, unless we develop a hole, through which the virus can gain access into us. We humans are geared to live in equilibrium with Mother Nature, and possess all the necessary tools to keep us safe and healthy, from any sort of invasion by germs. But due to various reasons, we develop holes in our armour, so to speak, thus allowing the germs to enter into our systems. Once germs have entered, our immune system battles most of them, and destroys them. A rare virus or parasite, like the one causing the current pandemic, manages to overwhelm our immune system, and destroy us.

What do we need to do, to plug any holes in our armour that we might have?

To plug any holes that we might have, we need to act on multiple levels—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual

1. Physical level

In order to see that the virus does not get a foothold in us, we need to follow all the guidelines given by the authorities. These include

a) Strict social distancing

b) Strict hand washing

c) Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth

d) Keep your surroundings clean and disinfected

e) Wear a good mask, wherever needed

f) Cut out junk food, alcohol, tobacco and eat nutritious food. Take your supplements as needed

g) Drink plenty of water. Our body is more than 70 percent water, and we need water for the functioning of every system in our body, from skin to brain to liver to the immune system. Dehydration can make all systems sluggish and make us prone to disease. Drink up, as much of plain, clean water as possible, and flush out all the toxins and keep your systems going

h) Good sleep is a great healer and rejuvenator. Since most of us are at home in lockdown, sleep should not be an issue. If possible, grab a small afternoon nap

i) At the earliest sign of fever or cough or any symptom, contact your doctor and follow his advice, with respect to testing, treatment or quarantine. And listen to your doctor, to the T.

2) Mental

Keep your mind calm and avoid overthinking. We are all thinking, worrying about the uncertain future, projecting the number of infected cases and death into a future date, and getting overwhelmed. We are worried about our family, ourselves, our friends, our job, our economy, our money, how we will cope etc. While all this thought is valid and natural, it doesn’t help. Overthinking overwhelms all systems of the body including the immune system. Take a break from social media, television, and avoid talking about the pandemic. Read, write, watch comedies or romance on television, call old friends, catch up with family over the internet, and generally keep a cool mind (phew)

3) Emotional

The pandemic is creating intense fear and panic, as is to be expected. The social distancing and quarantines, the non-availability of many things, the loss of freedom, having to put up with people at home, having to do lots of housework—-all these and more are giving rise to a host of emotions like frustration, irritation, anger, restlessness, depression, apathy, guilt, greed etc. All of these emotional states are holes which can lower our immunity and make us prone. It is imperative that we remain focussed, balanced and in harmony, and keep our emotions in check. Excessive panic, fear, stress, anger, depression—-all are going to act on the brain and hormones and result in lowering of our immunity, making us prone to the virus

4) Spiritual

At a spiritual level, we need to develop faith and trust—faith in oneself, in our millions of years of evolution and our ability to survive almost any calamity, faith in our friends and relatives, faith in our governments, faith in humanity, in goodness, in honesty, in love, and finally faith in some higher power—destiny, fate, kismet, Universe, Cosmos, All That is, or God. Once we are able to let go, surrender and put our faith in something or someone else, we can feel a big load lift off our shoulders, and we can feel relaxation. And the more you relax, the more you close up the holes in our armour, thus repelling the virus and preventing it from entering into you.

It is also the right time, when we are at home, to indulge in prayers, chanting, yoga, meditation, and to join in group meditations, in order to raise the collective consciousness of our world. Ours is a vibratory universe and we attract what we vibrate. If we could all come together, in prayer, in chanting, in meditation, in music, in devotion, in love, forgiveness, sympathy, empathy and compassion, we could easily raise the world’s vibrations and get over this current crisis, as we would go above the vibrations of the pandemic.

So, times to relax, eat healthy, sleep well, think positively, and have faith and trust in oneself and a higher power. We shall overcome, and the more we come together in love and brotherhood, the easier and faster this crisis will come to an end.