Developing New Habits during Quarantine
On 24th March, 2020, India, The nation of 134 crores people, went under complete lock-down for 21 days to flatten the curve of COVID-19. I was already working from home since 13th March due to the precautionary measure taken by my organization. To be honest, I love to go out daily, not necessarily for clubbing or hanging out with friends, but, just to get some fresh air, watch people, sip some chai, go to the gym, buy fresh groceries, and have Belgian chocolate ice creams on weekends.
21 days reminded me of the saying, “It takes 21 days to build a new habit!”, so I picked up 2 habits that I had always wanted to build & follow:
- Learn some thing new — French
- Practice Meditation & Mindfulness
I downloaded an app Mesmerise and started learning 6–7 French words daily. I also made notes in my diary. It’s a cool interactive app that makes learning so much fun. Every new day starts with a revision of the previous day’s lessons, and as you know, repetition makes the newly developing neural pathways stronger. J’adore!
Meditation is something I had been trying my hands at since a long time but was never able to stick to it. I have had many friends / colleagues guide me on different ways to meditate, but nothing worked for me. Finally, I decided to start with the easiest yet the toughest form of meditation taught to me by my little cousin brother — it’s called — Forgiveness Saadhana.
When you forgive, You don’t change the past, but you do change the future!
Forgiveness Saadhana is a 3 step process that begins with 5–10 rounds of deep inhalation & exhalation. I seek a quiet area in my house, dim the lights, sit in a relaxed posture on my bed with my feet on the ground, palms facing up resting on the knees
Step 1: I imagine all those people in front of me who have hurt me in the past due to any reason. I acknowledge their existence as a part of the Almighty. I intently bless them, wish them good health & happiness and forgive them so that I can move on without any hard feelings and negativity.
Step 2: I imagine all those people in front of me whom I might have hurt knowingly or unknowingly. I accept my mistakes & say with the intention of not hurting them again. I bless them & seek their forgiveness to let them go.
Step 3: Finally, I forgive myself. I accept my mistakes with the intent of not repeating them again. I forgive my self for being overly self-critical and harsh at times. I accept that I am not perfect but a work in progress. I take my mistakes as a new learning experience and move on with it. It’s really important to forgive yourself first because “Guilt is toxic”.
Lastly, I do a quick mindfulness practice which I had learnt through an online course on LinkedIn Learning Portal. I begin with same sitting posture, take 5–10 deep inhalations & exhalations. It includes a full body scan, beginning from the toes. I feel the sensitivity in each body part — toes, calves, knees, thighs, butt, torso, shoulders, arms, neck, jaws, ears, nose, eyes, forehead & top of my head. I feel that my each body part is working fine & thank the Almighty for keeping me healthy. I thank Him for protecting all the vital organs — lungs, heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, intestines. I keep both my hands on the center of my chest and think of my heart chakra opening up and spreading it’s loving aura miles around. I feel it to be filled with love, lots of love and somehow, I end up smiling with moist eyes!
I have been practicing it for more than 17 days now and I can clearly observe minor changes in my mental health. I have been feeling more calm & less impulsive. I am taking my time to respond & not react. I really hope to make it a permanent part of my lifestyle.
May this quarantine bring a significant change in each one of us for the good!
