Creating Our Post COVID-19 Life : Simple Steps to Heart Centered Living

“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?" the boy asked.
"Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you will find your treasure.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

​It's been a long time since I last posted here. I could make excuses or apologize for the silence. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because I am taking inspired action. I feel compelled to reach out and connect. Heart to heart.

This quarantine thing has been interesting, to say the least. For many of us it's been a time of quiet, solitude, isolation, pause and reflection. For others it's been a myriad of activity and striving to balance the need to work at home, parenting, figure out in-home child care and home schooling and do our best to steal that much needed time to rest, recover and reset. 

For all of us it's been a time for grieving. We many not realize it, but we are all grieving at some level. Perhaps we've lost loved ones. Perhaps we've lost our jobs, our income, some clients. Many of us are missing the simple things we took for granted, like face to face-eye to eye contact, hugs, our favorite coffee spot, retail therapy, date night with our significant other at our favorite restaurant relaxing over a glass of wine or a family wedding, birthday or graduation celebration. or a simply taking a few minutes to relax chat with a neighbor we run into at the grocery store.

COVID-19 has impacted each and every one of us on the planet. Our "normal" has been disrupted. We've had time to pause and reflect and notice that there are parts of our new normal that we like and there are parts of our old normal we miss. And as we begin to see restrictions being loosened, it's time to focus on what we want to create moving forward.

Today, as I socially distance in NH, I woke up to my cat all snuggled in next to me. I have a list a mile long of things I "need to do". But there is nothing to rush to as my schedule is much more forgiving than it was in my pre-COVID-19 normal. So I turned off my head that keeps reminding me of my to do list and I got up, made a cup of coffee and crawled back into bed and take my first sip as I bury my fingers into my cat's fur and feel her beginning to purr, focus on gratitude and settle in for a bit of meditation.

Take a minute to reflect on what you do to connect with your heart? What have you noticed during our time in quarantine? What makes your heart beat happy? What are you grateful for? What would you like to focus on moving forward? What will you continue doing once we can get back out into the world that can get a bit noisy?

That's a new mid-COVID-19 habit I've developed that I intend to maintain once the restrictions are lifted and I am free to live my new post-COVID-19 life. A practice that is worth setting the alarm for, if it ever comes to that.

During meditation, my heart told me to get back to writing, so here I am. This blog post will clear the way for the next one, with each one sharing tips, tools and resources I feel will be helpful in making the transition and intentionally creating our new normal. Also in meditation I am reminded of that grief book that I started writing three years ago that I never completed because I didn't have the final chapter. The truth is, I've lived the final chapter through this COVID-19 experience and it's time to get my story and the life lessons and inspiration that are woven through it out so others can benefit from my experience.

What would your life be like if you followed your heart ... even if your head tried to get in the way? Has there ever been a time when your head won over your heart? A time when you wished you hadn't listened to the head voices and followed your heart instead? Was there ever a time when you wished you knew how to turn down the head voices and get directly in touch with the wisdom of your heart?

Stay tuned ...

“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?" the boy asked.
"Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you will find your treasure.” 
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist​

PS If you'd like a simple, yet powerful breathing tool to get you started or enhance your meditation practice, you can download it here:

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