I’ve had a dry cough for over a week. It’s exactly the same cough I get when I’ve been around a cat (allergies)…and I did spend 45 minutes with a cat last weekend. But given the weird times of COVID I can’t help but wonder, is this maybe my own mild symptoms of the virus? Supposedly most people who get it have very mild symptoms or are completely asymptomatic. I don’t have a fever, and I haven’t had fatigue or tiredness at all. But oh, the cough. I have nothing to complain about as it is easily managed with eucalyptus oil on my chest.
This got me to thinking though, the three main symptoms of COVID, what are they teaching us on an energetic level?
LUNGS - BREATHING DIFFICULTY - DRY COUGH
Social distancing helps us to better choose the people we want to give and receive with.
The lungs are about giving and receiving. They take in and give out air, breath, life-force all day long, non-stop. They share life-force with those around us. Essentially, sharing breath. And this is the way the virus is spread the most, through tiny water droplets expelled into the air through breath, talking, coughing sneezing, etc. When we breathe in the space of other people, we are essentially sharing each other’s atoms and molecules, and getting real close and intimate. Sharing love…or not. Given the social distancing required to “flatten the curve” we are all being forced to spend time with only those who are closest to us, and to be very careful about who we choose to be close to at all. Social distancing is forcing us to be selective about who we share our life-force with, and how we do it.
I’ve found myself contemplating who my truest friends are. As a result, those closest to me are allowed into my “inner circle” - about 4-5 people. These are the 4-5 people who GET ME the most, the ones who understand how I feel, feel the same way, that I would trust to make decisions for me if I couldn’t. Then there is the middle circle, those who I may not see as often (perhaps they live farther away) but ones I trust implicitly. I’m finding that I am calling these people more often, having deeper conversations with them, connecting with them deeper as I’m forced to connect with them not in the physical.
My cough, my dry cough, seems to be serving me on many levels. The purpose of a cough is to forcefully push out toxins from the system, to get mucus and other elements out of the lungs that don’t belong there. I’ve noticed, during social distancing, that I find myself distancing myself extremely from those people who I “tolerated” or didn’t really enjoy in my life. It’s an easy excuse to stay away. I’m also very keenly aware now of who in my life didn’t treat me well, and I am choosing to use social distancing as a way to cough them up and out. I know it sounds harsh, but it really is serving me well. It’s like one of my favorite coffee mugs says “the secret of life is spending it with your favorite people.” I’m finding that my favorite people take up and deserve all of my time (I have a lot of them, and a very full life of them), and I don’t have time or energy anymore to spend on my non-favorite people. It’s also making me more careful about the new people I invite into my space and time.
FEVER
This virus is helping us to burn out all the “stuff” we don’t need anymore, physical and emotional.
The purpose of a fever in the body is to burn out the illness. Essentially, a fever is our body’s version of a fire ritual. Given the severe nature of the fever and virus, and that it is a global pandemic, I have no doubt that this condition is meant to burn out all that no longer serves us in a BIG way.
Let’s look at Mother Earth as a whole. She has been suffering for decades, since hurricane Katrina and the tsunamis of Japan in the early 2000s, to the hurricanes of the Gulf Coast in the last couple years, and the forest fires of the west coast of USA and Australia. Now, the fever of humanity (both physically and figuratively) is forcing the people to STAY PUT so that Mother Earth can clean herself. Reports are that the Venice canals are clean, that shipwrecks can now be seen in the clear waters of the Great Lakes, that the Himalayan mountains are now visible in India in ways they haven’t been for years, that the smog of LA is lifted!
For myself, and my friends, I’ve noticed myself burning out old habits that don’t work for me anymore. Just as everyone I know is cleaning out closets and getting rid of old stuff, I am also automatically, without having to try, making better choices for myself in what I do and how I do it. For example, I’m more careful with my budget and finances. I’m more aware and conscious of keeping my house clean (as I’m spending more time in it), and I’m cleaning out my inboxes, my computer desktop, etc. Lots of things are naturally “burning away”.
TIREDNESS, FATIGUE & EXHAUSTION
The tiredness of this virus force us to rest, and we are learning to prioritize our lives better and work more efficiently.
In the body, when we feel tired, it means we need rest, to restore the body to full functioning. Rest is the time the body heals itself. Sleep is vital to healing.
On the energetic level, rest helps us reset our nervous systems to function better as well. The whole world is on some sort of house arrest, which means we cannot do as much, be as many places, and we are forced to SLOW DOWN. As such, even those are not getting the virus are resting more, taking things easier, relaxing more. Those with kids are playing with their kids more, working less, and figuring out ways to get work done in less time…but also working less because values are changing.
My Hobbit is taking daily naps. I am waking at 6am instead of 5am, and letting myself have a leisurely morning of yoga, coffee, journaling, and walking before I start the busy work of life. Although my busywork of life tasks haven’t changed much, I am much more efficient about getting them done. They take less time because I am functioning at a better quality. Not worn out, but feeling refreshed. My mind is clearer, my body works better, I work smarter not harder.