Jessica Stover 0:09 This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University. Rosa McAllister 0:20 Hi, everyone. This is Rosa McAllister from Networks for Training and Development. And it is the third Monday of the month and this is our Healing Circle Call, Networks' Healing Circle. We've been doing these Healing Circle Calls once a month, typically on the first Monday of the month for I think three or four years now. And just recently, we decided to include one more per month, doing them on the first and third Mondays of the month at 2pm eastern time because of the situation that we're currently in. Rosa McAllister 1:02 If you are not aware, which I can't imagine, or you're listening to this at a later date, because we are recording these, and these are available as podcasts on many podcast streams, and will be available on Networks' website as well. So if you're listening at a later date, you might not know what I'm referencing. Or again, if somehow you're not aware, kudos to you. But we're in the midst of a pretty serious pandemic. It's April 20, 2020 is today's date. And the pandemic that I'm talking about that has many of us very, very scared is the COVID or the Coronavirus 19 is how it's being called. Rosa McAllister 1:51 We're not sure exactly really what this is, or what's going to be our future, to be perfectly honest. Many of us are on lockdown or stay-at-home and happen now for a couple of weeks for some of us several weeks. And in different locations, that means different things. I'm in Maui, Hawaii and as beautiful and paradise-y as it is here, we're on pretty much locked down as well, restaurants are closed, stores are closed, there's even been rumor that our beaches will be closed, which is unbelievable to imagine here. Rosa McAllister 2:28 So whatever your situation is, whatever is going on for you, again, we decided at Networks to increase the Healing Circle Calls to do it one other time per month. Things were originally started years ago with friends of mine, a group of us who came together and would just call and check-in on one another and breathe together. One or the other of us would read a meditation or an easy time just to come together to remember that we're not alone. We did this probably for about three years, four years. And then in talking with folks within Networks, I said, I wonder if we should open this up to others? And we've been doing it ever since. Rosa McAllister 3:14 So these Healing Circle Call times are about 20 minutes long, sometimes a little less, sometimes, usually not any more than that. Sometimes we lead a meditation. Sometimes there's a song, sometimes there's some poetry or other readings, sometimes there's a small activity. And I'm going to kind of do a combination of things tonight with you. Rosa McAllister 3:35 So again, just acknowledging wherever you are, and whatever you're going through right now in your life, being locked-in, locked-down, sharing space, or maybe being alone. Whatever that is for you for your situation, just trying to acknowledge that it's probably different than your usual whatever your old normal used to be. Rosa McAllister 3:58 And right now we're hearing lots of people and we're seeing lots of things on social media, even in the news, where people are sharing their tidbits tidbits where things to keep themselves healthy and sane and trying to deal better with all the confusion, the consternation, all the emotions and feelings of life that seems really out of the norm, out of balance right now. Rosa McAllister 4:25 So I thought that I would offer you started thinking my top 10 and then for those of you that know me, know that I have a hard time limiting myself. So, not limiting myself I did my top 15. So they're in no particular order. But these are the things that are kind of getting me through the day and the weeks. Rosa McAllister 4:51 (Number one) Get outside... as much as you can, even if it's raining, even if you're in the middle of the city, even if outside for you is just looking out your front doorway or on your front porch, or on a balcony, or even if it's just sitting near a window and open the window and stick your face outside. We get stuck inside, literally and figuratively, way too easily. So get outside annd if there's a ray of sunshine that you can get on your face, whether it's looking out the window, looking out the door, standing outside, or maybe it's just even sitting in a patch of sunlight, turn your face into the sun,close your eyes, and let it not only warm you, but soothe you. Rosa McAllister 5:45 Vitamin D is one of the best immune defense mechanisms we can have, we can add to our body and we know that the sun provides a good dose of vitamin D. So take a break at least once a day, if not more, and see if you can't get five minutes of vitamin D, on your face. It goes right into your cell membranes that goes right into your brain, your systems. It's soothing, it's warming. It's good for you, body and soul. Rosa McAllister 6:22 Number two -- stretch, dance, move, do something physical with that body of yours. Some of us are used to exercising a lot and right now we're just not doing that a whole lot. We're couch potatoes, we're desk jockeys, we're feeling that we can't get to the gym. Then there's others of us that really aren't that physical, but at least we move around a little bit. And maybe you're not doing so much right now. So make sure that you put things not within arm's reach, so that you have to get up and move to get to them. Take set alarms if you need to on your phone or otherwise or have people remind you to get up and move. And even when you're seated, move. I have I use a yoga ball as my desk chair, because it forces me to bounce and wiggle and move. It forces me to sit a little bit more upright. I have a small ball, probably that's about eight inches big, six to eight inches big, but it's not fully inflated. Rosa McAllister 7:27 And I put that between my knees and I squeeze it, particularly during long meetings, particularly during long frustrating meetings. I squeeze and hold and squeeze and hold and then let go, squeeze and hold that small ball between my knees, forcing movement. I put it under my feet and push down on it. I put it between my arms and compress together. Anything you can do to stretch, to move, and put on some good music and dance for heaven's sake. So what if somebody's nearby, get them dancing, too. Rosa McAllister 8:04 Third one -- talk to someone different each day. Pick somebody. Pick somebody, maybe it's somebody that you haven't talked to for a long time. Maybe it's somebody that you talk to all the time but you talk only in a certain way, meeting-way or something like that, business-way. See, if you can't talk to them in a different way. It could be a text. But what about an actual phone call? Like, oh my goodnes! Maybe it's somebody that you usually text with or email with. What if you suggested to them, what if you take the risk, and suggest to them that you talk like real time in person? Or what if you just surprise somebody and call them. Rosa McAllister 8:52 So this entered my list last week, when my oldest childhood friend out of the blue called me and made my day. My first response honestly was worry. Is she okay? Oh my goodness, Carolyn, why is she calling me, is she okay? Oh my goodness. But I answered the phone right away and as soon as I heard her voice, I burst into tears. Because not only did I know she was okay, but I knew she would have been thinking about me and holding me in her heart and wanted to check to make sure I was okay. Within two minutes, if that, we were giggling like 12 year olds again. Rosa McAllister 9:33 It was the best medicine I'd had in a long time. And so the next day, I called spontaneously another old friend, and called called her in and hopefully did the same for her. So, repeating number three: talk to someone different, at least once a day. See if you can't do that. Rosa McAllister 9:57 Number four -- some of you know I'm a bit of a health fanatic. But one of the best things we can do for our body, next to getting vitamin D through sunshine is eating fresh, real food. Like a real apple, not just applesauce. Like a piece of celery. Even if you slather it with peanut butter or cheese, it's still celery. Dip it in that french onion dip. Who cares? Broccoli, something fresh and real, not just something out of a packet. Not something frozen, but fresh and real. Maybe it's fish. Maybe it's local cheese or local yogurt or something like that. But see if you can't treat yourself by stocking up at least a little bit with some real food. Not just packaged, not just junk, but real stuff. Rosa McAllister 10:58 Number five -- drink even more water than usual. This time that we're going through right now, we need to flush our systems continuously. And the best way to flush our system is by adding in more water. The second best way to do it is movement, that helps to flush our systems too. But drinking in even more water than usual, and if you want add in a squirt of lemon, or add in some basil, or rosemary, if you have any fresh or celery, a celery stalk, or cucumber, I love to cut cucumber a couple cucumber slices in my water. In fact, I make a pitcher of water most mornings with cucumber, with basil or lemon in it and through the day I just keep pouring from the pitcher. And my goal is to drink three pitchers-full per day. That's a lot of water. That's a lot of bathroom stops, too, because of it, but that means I'm flushing, flushing my systems of any toxins have any issues of any lingering stuff and gunk that I don't need in there. Rosa McAllister 12:14 Number seven -- cry when you need to, laugh when you need to, scream when you need to, even throw or punch a pillow if you need to. Because right now, it's times that our emotions might be running pretty ragged. I've talked with a number of different folks over the last couple of weeks. And it seems that for many of us, this five week period or five week timetable or four weeks, something like that. We're kind of reaching our limit. And for many of us, we're starting to see ourselves, freak out, break down, get angry, do whatever it is that we do when we're kind of out of sorts. When things are not in our control, which is certainly what's going on right now. If you have noticed, if you watch the news, you'll see that there's a lot of people that are getting pretty ornery right now, that are picketing and starting to assert their rights, and starting to get a little bit more loud. No surprise. You're going to do this. I'm going to do this in our own different ways. The worst thing we can do, is to try to stop ourselves. The best thing we can do is when it starts bubbling up, let it go. Let it go, let it out, and then let it pass. It's the healthiest thing you can do. Rosa McAllister 13:43 Number eight -- for many of us right now, we're not getting the hugs and the physical contact that we're used to. If you live alone, and you're kind of hard up right now for hugs and physical touch. Even if you're living with someone else, I was talking with a very good friend of mine, and because she still has to go out into the world and her husband has has some pretty severe medical situations, he won't allow her to hug. He won't allow her to get too close to him. They're sleeping separately, and all of that and I hadn't thought of that. So, whatever is your situation, even if you are getting hugged regularly in your in your home, maybe too close quarters with too many people, every once in a while, give yourself a hug. Pat yourself on the back. Give yourself a couple of little kisses, that you're doing a good job. You're doing as best as you can. And along those lines, go easy on yourself. Give yourself some credit and some kudos. And heaven forbid, pamper yourself. I usually trade and barter with friends here for pedicures. I get pedicures and I give them a massage or facials or other things like that. Rosa McAllister 15:04 We can't do that right now. And so the other day, I made myself a little pedicure spa thing. It's certainly not as good as when someone does it for me, but I soaked my tootsies in some peppermint water. Just warm water that I put suds in and I put a little peppermint essential oil drops in. And just soaked out while sitting out on my lanai, my patio, reading a magazine with some nice music on. I soaked my feet and then I scrubbed them, I taken off all my nail polish from before. Trimmed my tootsies. And it felt so good that I went and refilled the basin a second time with even more warm, sudsy, pepperminty water. And I sat out there and enjoyed that for quite a long time. So whatever that means for yourself to pamper yourself,whatever it is, be it a nice bath, whether it's sleeping in, whether it's turning your phone off, whether it's reading a book, listening to music, hug yourself, go easy on yourself, and pamper yourself. Rosa McAllister 16:11 Number nine -- clean up, pick up, organize, and straighten up. Let's get down to brass tacks, here kids. Now is the time that we're living in our homes 24 - 7. Again, whether it's by ourselves or with one other person or a whole house full of people. We all can do our part to clean up, pick up, straighten up and organize. Rosa McAllister 16:39 It's not a bad time to go through your closet or your drawers and get out with the old the stuff that you don't use. It's not a bad time to do that. It's not a bad time to go through your spice cabinet or your any cabinet or drawer or anything. It's not a bad time to go through the piles that maybe you're sitting on your desk or the old newspapers or magazines, anything that we do to help straighten up, clean up, pick up and organize will make us feel tremendously better, even if it's just one small task that we do, one small area. Rosa McAllister 17:19 Number 10 -- spray some lavender or lemon or eucalyptus oil in and around your home, if you have it. And by spraying it all you have to do if you have any essential oils like that I recommend lavender, lemon oil, or eucalyptus oil would be my top ones, but anyone that you like. Mix it in a little container. And if you don't have a little spray bottle, all you have... if you do just some water and a couple of drops in it and go around and spray spray spray. Don't spray directly on furniture but spray into the air itself and around anybody who might be sitting there. If you don't have a spray bottle, take a little bowl, fill it with warm water, put up a couple of drops of one of these or one of your favorite essential oils and just go around the room gently sprinkling, gently sprinkling from the bowl some of that good smelling sweet stuff. Not only does it smell good, but it actually has cleaning and cleansing qualities, each one of those that I named -- lavender, lemon, or eucalyptus oil. But even if you use something else, something else that you have that you really like, go for it.. and if you don't have essential oils, but you have a certain perfume or cologne that you really like do the same... just a little bit and some warm water and an either a bowl or a spray bottle and spray or sprinkle it all around your home. It's amazing what that can do just to help, just to help change the atmosphere. Rosa McAllister 18:55 Number 11 -- you have any unfinished projects around your home? If you're like me, you probably have many! And some of them have been on my to-do list for ridiculous amounts of time. And there's no good reason why I haven't done them. So for many of us we're making to do lists and saying, oh, now's the time I can do all of these things. Well, the reality is, the more we focus on all and everything, the less likely it is that it's going to get done. So instead, just pick one. And maybe it's not even the biggest, maybe it's not even the one you've put off the longest. For whatever reason, just pick one. Rosa McAllister 19:38 And what can you do right now today, to start doing something about it. Don't put it on the list for tomorrow. I invite you to do something right now, even if it's just pulling it out, whatever it is, and putting it somewhere so that it's in your face. Or maybe it's making a plan right now of how you're going to attack it, what you're going to do tomorrow, what you're going to do the next day, etc. Be realistic and do something, just pick one of your projects, unfinished projects. And what can you do about it, right here right now. The likelihood, is we know, that when we can finish an unfinished project, there's more likelihood that we're going to move on to a next one, and we're going to feel good about it. Rosa McAllister 20:27 Number 12 is one if you've been in any of these other Healing Circle Calls, you'll know it's my top thing, to oftentimes lead us in here and remind us... and that is to breathe. Rosa McAllister 20:42 At these times, when we're tense, when emotions are running high, we have a tendency to do much more shallow breathing. And shallow breathing is the beginner beginning of hyperventilating and we all know hyperventilating is not such a good thing to do. It's not good physically for us. It's not good emotionally for us. It's not good mentally for us. So why the heck should we do it, right? So consciously try to catch yourself when you're getting into the shallow breathing and instead, as I just did, try to take a breath and sigh or put your hand on your abdomen, on your tummy, and try to breathe into your hand, because you can't do shallow breathing when you're breathing into your belly. Rosa McAllister 21:31 It forces you to do a deeper breath. And it's not just the breath in, it's the breath out that really matters. So when you find yourself getting hyped, hyperventilating, breathing shallow, getting scared, getting emotional, try to take a deep breath in, into that belly, into your hand on your belly. And then very slowly,sigh that breath out. That's right, with a sigh, breathe out. Rosa McAllister 22:08 Number 13 -- I mentioned before about the news, reading the news, watching the news, all of that,if you can, don't. And if you need to, really limit what you watch, how you watch, how often you watch, how long you watch. We all know this. And yet some of us, particularly at times like this, we get caught up into the "but I need to know, but I need to know". You will find out and you will know, you don't have to watch a 24 / 7. And if you usually watch TV, one station, try a different perspective, a different station. If you typically only watch TV, try to listen to the news on the radio, or read a newspaper. If you typically read a newspaper, try something else. If you do all of the above, see if you can't stop at least one and limit yourself. Rosa McAllister 23:05 Number 14 -- get dressed, take a shower, wear your jewelry, if you want to put on some makeup, do something so that you're not just in your PJs, your jammies, all day long. Or just your comfy clothes all day long. It makes a difference. Not only are we washing our hands a lot, but we should be taking showers fairly often, too. And not all of us are doing it. Because we're holed up, because we're at home. So for many of us, we're just in our sweatpants or our pajamas. That's okay. But after a while it leads to a certain depressed way of living. Try to do what you can to change that pattern. You don't have to get all dressed up. But what if you got dressed for dinner, even if you're eating alone? What if you put on fancy earrings? Or something else? What if you are normally not in shoes and you put your shoes on, as if you were going out? What about doing something like that? It's really important. Rosa McAllister 24:19 And the last one, number 15, which could have been the first one or the second or the third or the whatever... is try to find ways to be grateful. Whatever your circumstance, whatever your situation, we know that there are others out there that are in a much worse situation. So try to remember that hopefully this is temporary for you, for all of us, and that there's others out there that are really suffering and you might know them. So what can you do to not just be grateful, but to reach out to them, even if it's just holding them in your heart and sending them love. Rosa McAllister 25:00 So with that in mind, I want to close with a very, very brief activity. I want you to close your eyes if you if you want to, think of one person that you truly love. Think of one person that you truly love.Picture them as if a photograph. Maybe it's a specific situation, but think of that one person and hold them in your mind's eye. Rosa McAllister 25:34 Next, I want you to think of one person that truly loves you. Think of one person that truly loves you. It might be the same person, but I'm thinking it might be somebody different. Rosa McAllister 25:51 And I want you to hold their image, hold that picture of them in your heart and in your mind's eye. Take a deep breath. We're going up the ante and make this a little harder. Rosa McAllister 26:07 Think of one person who challenges you. And we've all got them. Think of one person who challenges you. And in your mind's eye and in your heart, think of an image of them, almost a photograph of them, see them. Rosa McAllister 26:26 And next, if you're not already ahead of me, think of one person that you challenge. Again, it might be the same person, but I bet you it might be somebody different. Be honest. Think of one person that you challenge. Get an image of them, hold it in your mind's eye, and hold it in your heart. Rosa McAllister 26:49 And now I ask you to take a deep breath. And as you let that breath out, I want you to send love to all four of these people. Big Love. Rosa McAllister 27:02 Breathe, love and send love out to that person that you truly love. As well as that person that truly loves you. Send big love out to that one person who challenges you, as well as the person you challenge. Maybe, maybe I challenge you, to actually send them love. Maybe it's a text message. Maybe it's a card. Maybe it's a phone call, maybe it's an email, maybe it's a letter, maybe it's a photograph. Maybe it's an emoji, or an emoticon, or who knows what Rosa McAllister 27:44 But I challenge you to send each of those four people an actual something of love.... that person that you truly love, that person that truly loves you, that person who challenges you, and that person that you challenge. That's your homework. Doesn't have to be today. But sometime soon, in fact, sometime within the next 24 hours, see if you can't really send some love out. Rosa McAllister 28:20 So thanks for joining with us. We're a couple minutes over, my apologies, of our usual 20 minutes. We'll be back again here for Healing Circle Calls on the first and third Mondays of the month for the time being at 8pm Eastern time. Rosa McAllister 28:38 We also have started another fun thing on the second and fourth Wednesday at 2:30 in the afternoon, Eastern Time. Kind of a stretch break. We're calling it a Home Stretch with Networks. I just led the first one on Wednesday and it was a little bit of chair yoga, easy yoga. We'll be doing different things to actually take a physical break. So we have our Healing Circle Calls at this number and this is a new number and all recorded and available for you as podcasts on various podcast channels under Networks Healing Circle. Rosa McAllister 29:18 We the Healing Circle Calls again or the first and third Monday of the month at 8pm Eastern time. And our Home Stretch, approximately 20 minutes stretch times physical stretch times, are on both Zoom and Facebook Live and they're on the second and fourth Wednesday at 2:30 pm Eastern time. So from all of us at Networks to all of you, we're breathing with you. We're sending you big love. And please do the same back to us and to each other. Thanks so much. Aloha. Jessica Stover 30:01 Thank you for listening. We hope the information provided was helpful. Don't forget to stop by our website and take advantage of all we have to offer. Transcribed by https://otter.ai