I was pleasantly surprised to see the wonderful response that I received and the numerous followers who accessed my blog via Facebook. There is now well over 2000 people following me and I am most grateful.  I must admit that this chapter took me longer to write than the others, simply because I wanted to make this chapter count, and reassuring myself that I am sending out the best positive energy message possible to all of you. In the present time, we are living among the stress and panic that has fueled the world with the COVID-19 pandemic, so I thought it is the time for us to remind ourselves of how to keep positive, and to maintain Balance and Harmony in this time of crisis. We all have heard of the concept of Yin and Yang, but whether we all apply it in our daily lives is another story altogether!

Decoding Yin and Yang  

The concept of Yin and Yang simply shows how everything is inter-related, and therefore when there is an action there is an equal reaction.

“Yin and Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy”

  • The Yin is the dark part of the logo and represents darkness, negative, softness, cold and docile aspects of things, to mention a few
  • The Yang is the light part of the logo with characteristic traits being active, positive, brightness, hot and dominance   
  • Yin and Yang complement each other and cannot exist without the other.  How they react with each other is of the upmost importance 
  • COVID 19 represents the darkness, the negative, and unfortunately the news and social media only assist in fueling the Yin more by showcasing more deaths and negativity around the world. The world is currently out of balance.

If we understand that everything is inter-related, then we know that positives are also found in negatives

Conversation with my Sifu (Tai Chi teacher Daniel)

In all honesty I only really started understanding Yin and Yang when I began Tai Chi with my Sifu (Tai Chi teacher) Daniel.  I sat down with Daniel last week as I needed to be exposed to his knowledge, and below is the highlight of my conversation with him.

Daniel Lai, Tai Chi Master

Me: “How do you feel about the situation of the COVID 19 right now?”

D: “We are living in a time of great anxiety, fear, anger with great uncertainty of life. Every day we are being bombarded with negative vibes from the news and media and all our

energy, emotions and attention are concentrated on these negative effects, fueling even more the disbalance.”    

Me: “What do we need to do then to counter-balance it?”

D: “Emotion is a key factor, and when we become blinded by emotion, we lose our awareness and cannot think properly.  Use your intellectual mind to mindfully accept the situation we are in, give in, and live it. Instead of fighting those negative emotions, we need to surrender and accept them. This will then allow us to channel our energy on finding the positive among the negative. To recalibrate Balance and Harmony.”

Silver Lining and Way Forward

Let us remind ourselves that when things look black, there is always a Silver Lining

After I left Daniel, I knew exactly what my next paragraph would be on. I will focus on finding as many positives that I could find out of the pandemic and share them with you. Making my list is certainly not exhaustive, so I invite all of you reading this blog to do the same! Let us find our list of silver linings, embrace them, and remember them during this time.

Below is my personal list:

  • Most of us in the world have been forced to be locked down because of the pandemic. My silver lining is that it has given me the opportunity to reconnect with my family at home. Together we are spending time trying new recipes, watching movies, playing games, which I am grateful for! This quality time is priceless.  
  • It has made us more conscious as a family on hygiene issues. I am very sure that even after the pandemic is over, we will carry on making sure that we wash our hands, clean our kitchen surfaces at home, etc. 
  • I am grateful that for once, we are fighting a war together as the virus has no race, gender or religion, and I am hopeful that it will unite the world as one
  • I am also hopeful that this will make the world realize where we should focus our energy on: instead of war, weapons and destroying lives, we should invest our energy in research and developments in the scientific field that’ll enable us to save lives
  • Back to basics. The virus has made me rediscover my love for cooking and baking. I went back to remove dust and spider webs from my bread recipes and cake tins, and start baking at home again instead of venturing out to supermarkets and bakeries. Point of no return now, I will carry on baking even after the lockdown is over!
  • I have rediscovered my vegetable patch at home, as this has made me aware of our vulnerability and reliance on supermarkets for food      
  • The pandemic has rekindled initiative and creativity in all of us. I have managed to carry on with my yoga classes, pilates and a Tai Chi, all online! I have also witnessed and appreciated how resourceful educators can be and how far they can go to ensure that our children carry on their learning process. Inspiring and very grateful!     
  • Last but not least I have made the conscious decision to block out all the negative news on COVID 19 that come my way by deleting them, and instead focus my energy on searching for positive stories that come out of the pandemic and share them with as many people as I can!  

For those following me on my health2bfree.com Facebook page, I encourage you to post as many positive silver linings as you can think of.

Together we can turn the negative energy into positive and restore the balance of Yin and Yang

Take care everyone, be safe and see you soon for another chapter of health2bfree.com