Staying cheerful in times of Covid_19

 So the virus has spread globally and most of us are sitting in voluntary isolation to help #flattenthecurve. How has your life changed in the last few weeks?

Mine is relatively peaceful and I am totally gratefull for the luxury of being in a salaried position, for the luxury of not having to entertain children at home, for the luxury of not really lacking anything but frivolous things like being able to go out for a cup of coffee or meeting a friend for lunch.

I still go to the office on the three days that I work in Duesseldorf. It's only me and one colleague, the rest of the (small) staff has been working from home and I am able to safely drive door to door from my home to the office. Haven't been on public transportation for a while as I need to be extra careful to keep my 88-year-old mom safe whom I sharing my German home with.

Deserted cities

I try to get outside every day, not just to enjoy the fine sun we've been having (even though the temps are loooooow) but also to get some movement. Oh, I forgot that I miss my regular sports dearly ... I find I cannot get up the discipline to work out by myself at home (except for yoga, but more about that below). So in the lunchbreaks I stroll through the deserted city, every day it seems to get more quiet. Practically all shops and restaurants are closed, only a few people in the streets. I see much discipline when people are waiting at bakeries and takeouts, and of course in the supermarkets, too - they really stand far apart.

These images above are impression from a very sunny lunchbreak in Duesseldorf. Koenigsalle, the main fancy avenue in town is deserted (normally the roadside cafés would be throbbing with guests) and on the promenade along the Rhine river there a very few folks to be seen.

One sunny morning I decided to go to Duesseldorf's "central park", our Hofgarten - but it was quite freezing as the sun hadn't hit that part of town yet. It was chilly even though I was nicely bundled up in my heavy coat.

Tulips bring cheer

After switching to my Dutch home on Wednesday the weather didn't get much warmer either. I decided that I needed to increase my radius a bit after almost two weeks of isolation and got on the bicycle to check on the center of town there. Just as deserted as Duesseldorf! A sad feeling. But on the way back I found a TULIP FIELD RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN:

And the tulips were certainly a good cheerer-upper! I would have loved to take armfulls home but enjoyed an extended photo session instead.

​What really helps is yoga

But what really keeps up my morale is the regular yoga I get to do! I practise with the Kundalini Sisters sangha in the mornings from 6:00 to 7:00 and we (I also teach a few times a month for them) have added extra sessions to help people through this period of isolation at 8:00 in the morning and at 7:00 in the evening, plus a kids yoga class at 9:00 in the morning. And people have been signing up in great numbers!

It feels so good to do yoga together in a group, even though it is only a virtual togetherness. But it gives great structure to the days and helps to feel connected. And it keeps me moving in a good way ... keeps away the stealthy laziness and unproductivity that can grab me when loafing around on the sofa and just reading even more (I'm up to a book a day!) ...

STAY HEALTHY and keep up the morale. We've got to beat this bug and we have to stand together to make a difference! WE CAN DO IT!