"Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity." Lao Tzu

This quote by Lao Tzu, a great philosopher, emphasizes time and again, the importance of keeping our mind still and focused admist the chaos. Covid-19 has emerged as one of the biggest challenge to the mankind in our generation, which has put a threat to human lives as well as economy [1]. The world has united to curb the epidemic with the governments, policy makers, health care workers and public acting in harmony to bring everything back to normal. Extensive research is currently going on to develop drugs, find a safe vaccine and social interventions targeting the SARS-COV-2. It is certain that soon we will get a breakthrough and humanity will win over this unwanted guest that is ghosting our lives.

But an important thing is that what should be done till the day arrives.

We have already witnessed the widespread anxiety in the public and health care workers, helplessness of the governments even after extensive preventive measures and burden on the economies causing loss of jobs. These are causing emotional stress that is additive to that is caused by the virus itself. Mindfulness is the key to handle such levels of stress and should be made an important part of our day to day lives. To simplify, mindfulness is nothing but just to be aware of what is happening. The impact of mindfulness in reducing stress of clinicians as well as patients has already been shown [2,3].

The benefit of mindfulness has been shown not only in self-report measures of psychological health, but also has been documented with functional Neuroimaging.

The key principles of mindfulness which can be just lived on daily basis, without having a targeted course on mindfulness are

Non-judging: We must observe the things that are happening in a non- judgmental way. A lot of criticism had happened in the initial phase of the epidemic, with possible Chinese conspiracy, biological warfare and many other possible hypotheses. This has caused a lot of hatred and mistrust in the society towards a particular ethnicity [4]. Mindfulness can make us aware of the true causative pathogen, and all our focus and measures should be towards the same. We as a world should be united in this time of need and stop judging each other.

Patience: This is an important insight, which we can get from mindfulness. Like many other greater threats to the mankind in the past, this too shall pass. What we need is to have patience and wait for the scientific breakthrough and health agencies to find an appropriate treatment. Let us not allow our mind to wander and falsely believe in disastrous outcomes. Beginner?s mind: It is important to approach this epidemic with fresh mindset. Although it is important to get insights from prior similar outbreaks, but keeping our mind in a naive state can let new ideas sink through our subconscious and may provide new insights.

Trust: It is very important to align our mind to trust the government efforts, health agencies and policy makers to curb the epidemic. Trust and faith is the key to mental peace and reaching the desired outcomes with cumulative efforts.

Acceptance: There is extensive research going on to find a breakthrough and make this world get over covid-19 [5]. While the researchers are doing their job, it is important for us to accept what is happening. Covid-19 is now an integral part of our lives and will stay for an unknown time. This is our reality right now and we should accept it as it is and should not let anxiety creep in. We must accept the new social distancing and hygiene norms. The key is to accept the new normal.

Gratitude: Practicing gratitude as a part of our daily routine can do wonders to our mental health. We must practice this habit to be thankful to health care workers taking care of our loved ones, government and policy makers working unanimously to keep us safe and curb the epidemic and to the higher power as per our belief to keep us healthy and alive.

Generosity: This is the time, when we should help those in need. Be generous enough to talk with understanding to our family and friends, listen to what people want to share and help our neighbors in any possible way. It is important to forget the individualistic ways and see all those around us with humanity

We believe that integration of mindfulness interventions can help reduce the stress and anxiety associated with the pandemic and organize us to better focus to curb Covid-19.

References

1. Helmy YA, Fawzy M, Elaswad A, Sobieh A, Kenney SP, Shehata AA. The COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive review of taxonomy, genetics, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and control. J Clin Med 9 (2020): 1225-1225.
2. Raab K. Mindfulness, self-compassion, and empathy among health care professionals: a review of the literature. J Health Care Chaplain 20 (2014): 95-108
3. Koszycki D, Benger M, Shlik J, Bradwejn. Randomized trial of a meditation-based stress reduction program and cognitive behavior therapy in generalized social anxiety disorder.JBehav Res Ther 45 (2007): 2518-26
4. Ng E. The Pandemic of Hate is Giving COVID-19 a Helping Hand. Am J Trop Med Hyg 102 (2020): 1158-1159.
5. Jackson LA, Anderson EJ, Rouphael NG, et al. An mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 - preliminary report. N Engl J Med 2020