I loved playing #LuckyBecause. It focussed my attention on the appreciable so effectively – and thus lifted my spirits hugely. I wrote down what I noted with ‘hand on heart’ appreciation across the day – 8am-6pm. Here you go:
Hand on heart, I am #Lucky Because…
- I can do qigong on the patio
- I have this garden here
- I have all I could want to fall in love income and material well-being
- I work for myself and I have no boss
- I have an amazing partner
- I can choose what to do
- I have astonishing tech. Truly.
- I became a mother!!
- I have two daughters and they are my life’s greatest blessings
- Es tranquilo aqui
- We have choices
- It’s the weekend and I can have treats
- I can have Diet Coke at 9 am!
- It’s Saturday – a whole weekend to enjoy
- I have a routine so I have fewer decisions and less uncertainty in my days
- I managed to trigger TRE in my post she gong meditation in the extended Lee Holden class (Bumpy ride… But the qigong prepped my body and Lee held the meditative space) – thank you!
- Now I know I can trigger TRE whenever I want – just do a full qigong class and stay for the meditation session – on my mat – on the patio
- I can access TRE, maybe the best way to reboot the ANS! (All autistic people should be taught these amazing tools.)
- I may sleep better tonight too!
- TRE and chicken is a beautiful antidote to lockdown stress
- I have a dear friend, Deborah, who teaches me TRE and breath work, and I get to see her on Friday zoom breath work classes.
- Now I get coffee number two and toast because it’s Saturday – after 18 minutes in the sunshine
- I’m getting lighter – in weight, frequency, mood, work cares, old stuff. Yes!
- I’ve got this reframing game called #LuckyBecause. It’s Powerful!
- I did some great research on the ANS in autism today. I can glimpse an autism tool kit of the future:
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- Diet: GFCF etc
- Autism-friendly environment: sensory design, routines, clothes, expectations
- Love and ‘joining’: including maybe therapy for parents and caregivers so they can be present in a parasympathetic state and give Heart Love. We need Heart Love as autistic people. (Back the F off with your ABA)
- ANS/HRV-balancing practices and biofeedback tech: TRE, HeartMath Inner Balance, Sensate, breathwork, qigong…
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- I can just go out for a walk in the woods now – in nature and stress-free
- I have a sister I can call now and chew the cud – what good fortune
- I went on a beautiful walk in nature
- I bought my first ever selfie stick (it’s a tripod for zoom calls but it also does selfies – watch out world!)
- My copy of Upstream by Dan Heath arrived
- We’ve got leftover Indian food yummy
- I used all my letters in scrabble (50 points) and got a 74 point word.
- My car’s battery went flat from lack of being driven (#lockdownlife) – so G kindly went to Halfords for jump leads – but it was closed to in-person (non-online/collection) customers and – what good luck! – a guy waiting in the car park just gave him some out of his boot saying “we have to help each other”. Beautiful. (Powerful side note: G had posted on FB a couple of days earlier, a gif of one tortoise helping another tortoise turn over, with the words, ‘Sometimes we help each other.’)
- G and I had divided the shopping list but he did all the shopping because my car battery was flat – that was a treat for me as the shops are still such intense places
- I have the luxury of time – and tech!
And for perspective on #LuckyBecause, and on how safe and well I am fortunate enough to be at the moment, see this list of current pandemic circumstances – anonymous and doing the rounds on Facebook:
So that I never forget (I want it to pop up as a ‘memory’ in years to come and idea borrowed from other people’s pages)
-Today is Friday 15th May 2020 ?
-The week after VE Day ??????
-2 months and 9 days since the Pandemic was declared.
-Day 54 of lockdown in the UK (lockdown was declared on Mon 23rd March 2020)
Some of the unprecedented events that have occurred as a direct result of the Corona Virus…..?
- On 11th March 2020 the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) was declared a Pandemic, by the World Health Organisation (WHO).?
- On Friday 20th March all UK schools were closed. ?Remote learning is now in place and parents are home-schooling their children ?. All GCSE and A Level exams have been cancelled.
- On the evening of 23rd of March 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson implemented a national lockdown ?
- The Excel London is now known as NHS Nightingale and has been turned into a hospital for up to 4,000 patients, most of whom will be on ventilators. It was opened by Prince Charles (virtually, rather than in person) at 11am on 3rd April. There are also several similar venues being built and used in cities across the country (including Bristol).?
- On 5th April The Queen addressed the nation at 8pm ? (only the 5th time she has done this, outside of her annual Christmas message).
- Also on the 5th April, Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital, after 10 days of self-isolating with the Corona Virus ?
- On the 6th April Boris was admitted to intensive care with deteriorating symptoms. Fortunately he came out of intensive care on 9th April ?
- Many Community support groups have been established, to support the vulnerable, elderly, immunocompromised and people in enforced isolation due to exposure ????
- Petrol ⛽️ prices are extremely low and the national average is £1.02 per litre
- Gatherings are banned, you cannot socialise with anyone outside of your home. Not even your own family members ?
- Social-distancing measures have been implemented ☹️
- There is now tape on the floor at supermarkets ❌ and other essential stores to help distance shoppers ? (2 metres) from each other.
- There is a limit on the number of people allowed inside stores at any one time, including staff, this is causing queues outside of the store doors and in car parks?
- Non-essential stores and businesses have been forced to close. All non essential travel is banned. People ???? are told to work from home if they are able to?
- Parks ? trails, entire towns and cities ? are closed or restricted to locals only
- Sports ⚽️ ? ? seasons are cancelled, as well as The Grand National and Wimbledon .
- The Olympics have been postponed until July 2021.??⚫??
- Concerts, ? tours ? and festivals, ?? (including Glastonbury) and other entertainment events ? are cancelled ?
- Weddings, ???? family celebrations ? birthdays, christenings, anniversary’s and holiday gatherings, such as Mother’s Day and Easter, ???? are cancelled ?. Funerals continue to ⚰ go ahead. Only very close family are permitted to attend (if they are well & not isolating). Social distancing applies even at funerals.
- Churches ⛪️ are closed and the Pope delivers the Palm Sunday mass to an empty Basilica, in the Vatican City?
- Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and all other TV networks are on in every home, daily ?
- People are glued to the News and to Social Media.
- Children’s outdoor play parks are closed ?
- Most flights are grounded, ✈️cruise ships ?are docked, holidays are cancelled ?and only essential travel is permitted. A few rescue flights are operating.
- There is a huge shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, ? gowns ? and gloves ? for our front-line essential health workers.
- There is a shortage of ventilators for the critically ill, ? in many parts of the world.
- On the news, we see refrigerated trucks for the dead, outside hospitals in the USA ?? Italy ?? Spain ?? and China ?? etc and we see the mass digging of graves.
- Panic buying ? set in and we have restrictions on toilet paper ? disinfectants, paper towels, basic foods (like pasta, rice and bread),? as well as hand sanitiser.? Flour is hard to find, because the packaging comes from China ?? and many borders are closed ?
- Manufacturers, ? distilleries and many other businesses, ? switch their production lines to help make visors, masks ? hand sanitiser ? and PPE ?
- The Police are given the power to impose fines for breaking lockdown rules and to disperse groups ??♀️
- Stadiums ? and recreational facilities overseas are opened up for the overflow of Covid-19 ? patients.
- In some countries, Public Park ? areas are being turned into caravan parks for stranded tourists to self isolate ?
- There are daily Press conferences from the Prime Minister?♂️ and other government ? officials. We are given daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths ⚰️ are over 30,000
- There are Government ? incentives to stay at home. Self-employed can apply for grants and employees are being furloughed (many are being laid off).
- Barely anyone is on the road or the street ?
- People are wearing masks ? and gloves when they go outside ?
- Essential service workers are terrified to go to work ?? ??⚕️ ??
- Medical field workers ??⚕️ are afraid to go home to their families ???
- Every Thursday evening at 8pm we all stand outside our front doors and clap the NHS and Carers, to show our gratitude for what they are doing.???????????
- Many people have rainbows visible ? in the windows of their homes, as a way of spreading hope.
So today, dear voice of my heart?
Today, we return you to the practice of checking in with your heart – for decision-making. This game is called #HeartDecides. So, for any decision you have to make, you tune in to the heart space, and you let the Heart decide.
Be your decision about what to have for breakfast; whether to wash your hair or not; whether to join a course you’re interested in; where to go for your walk; what to do next in terms of housework; how to use your rest time; whom to call next; what to wear. Get in to the habit of consulting the Heart’s intelligence. And also noting when it is that you are making a decision…
I love it. What a great game. Thank you for being so endlessly playful with me. I appreciate it.
Truly, it is a pleasure.
Let the Heart decide #HeartDecides