Mindfulness

This blog was originally posted on Ten Percent Happier on April 22, 2022 and is reprinted here with permission

If you find that you’re not sleeping enough—you’re not alone. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about 35% of American adults skimp on sleep; and this rate is even higher in African Americans and other minority groups.

“Mindfulness” has become a bit of a buzz word in recent years. It’s not unlikely that you, or a friend or family member, may have tried out a meditation class, downloaded the app Headspace or Calm, or participated in a workplace-sponsored mindfulness training.

A muffled crack of thunder, followed by a flash of light that lit up the bedroom wall. Then another, louder CRACK! I had been lying in bed awake since 1AM, for three hours, my husband next to me, deep asleep. But now the wind was pushing violently against our windows, and I woke him up.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly and abruptly changed human life in unexpected ways. In the last few months, since the COVID-19 stay at home restrictions came into place, millions of people have been working from home and practicing social distancing.

Today I said thank you to the staff at the senior living facility where my 97-year-old grandmother lives.  At the outbreak of COVID-19, she found herself hospitalized with bacterial pneumonia – nothing related to COVID-19.  Just poor timing.  

Racial and related inequities have immensely traumatized Black and Brown citizens of the United States for centuries.

People deal with stress in different ways and while there is no right or wrong way to deal with the stress of a pandemic, I figured it would be helpful to share a few ways that I have found balance during this time.  

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