Tune in and zone out to quiet the crisis
This moment — crowded homes with everyone feeling a little crazed — was just made for mums like Tiffany Jackson, who says she started preparing years ago, writes Tracy Renkin.
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Tiffany Jackson smiles and nods her head admitting she would have definitely lost her cool over the past fortnight if it wasn’t for a simple trick she learned decades ago.
Meditation — but not the stereotype of “emptying the mind”.
Rather it’s a 20-minute mental refresher and opportunity to refocus which promises to be the equivalent of a three to four-hour nap.
At a time when many of her close friends are frustrated and frazzled, Jackson feels like 20 years of practising meditation has been the perfect training for a crazy 2020.
And she is keen to share her tips with HiberNation readers.
“I have set myself up for this time,” Jackson says. “I’m calmer and more rational.”
And, she laughs, “better able to cope with the chaos of COVID-19”.
A big part of her style of meditation is simply learning how to stop. “People mostly operate at the level of thinking and moving and doing and we rarely move into a state of just being,” she said.
“Meditation is about being rather than doing.
“The bad news is that none of us know how long this upside-down life is going to last for. But the good news is that it’s never too late to learn how to meditate.”
Like most Australian households, the combination of social distancing and isolation have turned the Jackson family’s normally very busy life upside down.
At the start of the year they moved from a big five-bedroom house on acreage near Byron Bay to a small two-bedroom apartment in Brisbane’s inner city.
They pitched the big change to the children with promises of adventure and fun getaways.
But with her eldest child now home from boarding school there are three children squished into the one small bedroom — and the virus means there are none of those promised adventures.
It’s little wonder then that “iso” – as the Jackson family have come to call it – came somewhat as a shock to their system.
With all their normal activities now banned, the one thing all three children have is time.
There’s time to turn the lounge room into a soccer field, the kitchen into a floury mess, time for the kids to use every single glass in the house – and there’s certainly plenty of time to get under each other’s skin.
“Meditation has saved me,” Jackson says.
“Every day I am grateful that 20 years ago I learned how to meditate (and) that despite these crazy times I was able to find my calm and not lose my temper. I’m certainly not perfect. I do slip up and I am not going to lie and say it’s all amazing and social distancing and isolation is just wonderful, because it’s tricky.
“What we’ve got now is certainly not how I want my life to be forever. But because we are a family that meditates, we’re managing this upheaval a whole lot better together.”
Jackson has dabbled in lots of different types of meditation over the years but the one that suits her best is called Vedic.
It’s a simple practise that requires two, 12 to 20-minute sessions a day.
At the moment she’s currently doing a bit more than 20-minute meditations because she says every 20 minutes is the equivalent to a three to four-hour nap.
“It’s one of the most effortless forms of meditation because as long as you are somewhere where you can close your eyes, you can do it anywhere,” Jackson explains.
“You don’t sit on a special mat with incense burning. You can do this kind of meditation sitting on the loo!”
It’s not about thinking only happy thoughts or even emptying thoughts from your head, she said — it’s about noticing thoughts as they come.
“We hold onto every kind of negative pain and emotion and frustration and over the years that just builds up more and more and it clogs up our nervous system.
“Mediation is a way of releasing some of those stresses little bit by little bit.”
TIFFANY’S MEDITATION TIPS
5 MINUTES
HAND ON YOUR FOREHEAD
This will give you instant relief. Simply put your right hand up to your forehead and press the palm flat. Parents can teach even young children how to do this. Close your eyes and think of the thing that’s frustrating you and as you focus on the feeling of your palm against your head, feel that frustration dissipate. You can notice a difference in as little as 30 seconds.
10 MINUTES
FEET ON THE GROUND
It’s called earthing and it’s a super easy way for anyone in the family to get grounded. Take off your shoes and walk around in sand or soil or leaves and wriggle your toes. Focus on the feeling of the bottom of your feet touching the ground. Notice the nature around you. Touch it if you can. If you live in a unit then even keeping an indoor plant alive can help relieve stress. And, if you are working from home, pop a plant on your desk.
20 MINUTES
FAMILY CUPPA
Tempers fraying and fed up with each other? Instead of ranting and raving, pop on the kettle and pour everyone a cup of tea. Little ones can have a warm honey and lemon drink. In the time it takes you all to enjoy this family ritual of slowly savouring your drink and cupping the warmth in your hands, the emotional part of your brain will have settled down and you will hopefully be more rational.
Originally published as Tune in and zone out to quiet the crisis