Mindfulness, the Pandemic, and Getting Back to Business

They say that those who don’t learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.  Yes, there are some things that people do which can be considered patterns that repeat generation after generation.  But I’m not sure that knowing about the historic events prevents them from being repeated.  In this case, I know the history yet I’m powerless to stop the repetition of it by others.

A pattern we’re repeating today was one that was evident in the events of the life of Dr. John Snow. Born in York about 200 years ago, he made an important discovery in London.  At that time, there was a cholera epidemic.  No one could understand why people living in Westminster were getting sick and dying.  John Snow began interviewing people. What he did was what we now call “contact tracing.”  Based on his investigation, he determined the source of cholera.  It was the Broad Street pump: the place where people got water for use in their homes.

Knowing the source of cholera, he mounted an educational campaign and told people that drinking water from the pump would make them sick.  They needed to get their water from another source.  That worked for a while and people stopped getting sick.  You could say that they flattened the curve.  Some people thought, “No one is getting sick anymore.  It’s easier to get water from the Broad Street pump than hauling it from further away.”  They once again began drinking water from the Broad Street pump.  Of course, people began to die of cholera again.  Realizing the significance of the problem, the handle from the Broad Street pump was removed so that no one could pump water from it again.  And the people lived….well, not happily ever after.  They had to haul water a further distance.  But they lived.

I learned the story of John Snow, the father of modern epidemiology, while taking a course in public health policy in the 1980s.  At that time, I was trying to learn all I could to help me understand how to work as an activist during the AIDS pandemic.  The lesson of John Snow helped me to understand that people will return to familiar patterns even in the face of proven risks. 

Returning to familiar patterns even though we know better:  we all do it.  Even though I know it’s not good for me, I’ll eat out of stress.  Others will drink or smoke.  Even though sexually transmitted diseases are prevalent, people engage in sexual behavior that puts them at risk for infection.  We are aware that it’s easy to make choices that aren’t in our own best interest.

Today, people want to return to life as it was a few months ago before we knew about the coronavirus and COVID-19.  That’s happening even while there is no treatment for the disease and researchers are stating that there may not be immunity from the virus after one has COVID-19.  While researchers are saying that we will need to maintain social distancing for months to come, we want to return to dining out, going to salons, and pick-back-up with favorite activities. We sound a lot like the people who drank from the Broad Street pump even though it was the source of cholera, don’t we?

Over the last decade, many people have promoted the Buddhist concept of mindfulness.  It’s a simple concept for both meditation and daily living.  To be mindful is to be mentally focused and aware.  In meditation, mindfulness is a focus on one thing, like being fully aware of our breathing.  In daily living, it is the discipline to keep our attention on what we are doing or what is happening at that moment.  Countless studies have been conducted on the way mindfulness improves productivity in the workplace, increases learning outcomes at school, and leads to a healthier life by reducing stress, improving mental acuity, and regulating many processes in the body. 

One of the things not discussed as commonly about mindfulness is the way it can help us to change our behavior and manage our emotions.  When we have the urge to do something that’s not good for us or when our emotions start us toward spiraling toward something we can’t control, mindfulness enables us to stop what’s happening.  Mindfulness teaches us to pause, to take a moment and understand what’s happening right now.  When I become aware that I am beginning to do something that’s not good for me, I need to stop and return to balance and equilibrium.  From that place of balance and equilibrium, I am then free to choose my next step rather than being driven by a compulsion.  Similarly, as I become aware that my emotions are leading me to a place of increased agitation or anxiety, I need to pause and return to the peaceful center within me.  After doing that, I can understand the response that will be right for me at that moment.

When we talk about the spiritual dimension of our lives, we speak of engaging in spiritual practices:  prayer, meditation, writing, or whatever it may be.  We do these things to practice.  Practice for what?  We practice for such a time as this when we need to be able to be focused and present and wise in our actions and feelings.  We have to practices how pay more attention how understand the angele´s expressions by numbers, for example the Angel Number 888 Meaning abundance and achievement. People who see this number appear in their life are often self-reliant and they’re in touch with their faith, given that they’re living divine and purposeful lives.

The people of Westminster who returned to the Broad Street pump after John Snow warned them about cholera did so out of a kind of compulsion.  It was easier to follow old habits than to haul water a longer distance from the next pump.  Perhaps if they would have paused and been mindful, they would have understood that changing their behavior was the right thing for themselves and their families.  Similarly, during the COVID 19 pandemic, we need to live in a mindful way to reduce the risk of infection from a virus that will likely be with us for a long time to come.  We begin by stepping back, pausing, and being mindful of our thoughts, actions, and emotions.