Coronavirus, Reiki, and the Way Forward

1.25 Million.

291-646 thousand.

2-6 thousand.

8 million.

2.8 million.

3254...

Numbers.

Not necessarily the best clickbait, but they also don’t lie. They are the quiet song beneath the hysterical cries.

They are the reason amid the panic.

They are the calm in the storm.

And they are also – at least the ones above – yearly world death tolls.

1.25 million road deaths.

291,000-646,000 seasonal flu deaths.

2,000-6000 deaths by lightning.

8 million deaths caused by tobacco.

2.8 million deaths caused by obesity.

3254 deaths caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Now in fairness to the laggardly COVID-19, it has only been around a few months, but it has a lot of catching up to do if it wishes to play with the big guys.

But do you hear news of the 21,917 people who die daily from deaths caused by tobacco?

What about the 1100-odd people who die each day from seasonal flu?

Nope. No news there. Rather, it’s COVID-19 all the way. He is the glamor boy. The star of the media show. The seller of newspaper. The social media heartthrob.

Of course, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying he doesn’t have a fine set of claws. I’m not saying his reach isn’t growing. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t take the necessary precautions to wipe him off the map.

But, please, a bit of perspective.

Australia has fifty cases. It has had two deaths. So no need to storm the local supermarket for toilet paper just yet.

Indeed, while the virus is definitely spreading across the globe, there is also plenty of good news. For one, children seem pretty well unaffected. None have died from it as yet, and most have symptoms so mild, they often aren’t even noticed.

What is more, the mortality rate isn’t diabolical. The feeling you get when tuning into the news is that COVID-19 is the Grim Reaper made virus. But of the 95,178 infections at the time I write this article, there have only been 3254 deaths.

But what about exponential growth, you might ask?

Well, take a look at China. Most of the world’s COVID-19 cases are found right there, but the other day they actually closed one of their 16 makeshift specialized hospitals in Wuhan as the last of its patients was released.

In fact, growth in China is slowing despite 75,000 people getting infected there. But if growth truly were exponential, then pretty well the whole country ought to soon be infected. Not happening.

That makes me believe that a lot of the potential danger COVID-19 represents is indirect.

People panic. Fear claims them – and the stock market crashes, businesses collapse, and you can’t find a roll of toilet paper at your local supermarket!

Just as bad, people’s emotional/psychological wellbeing is infected by fear. Constant, growing, daily fear.

So while COVID-19 is scarily contagious, and while strict measures should be used to contain it, a bit calm reflection is called for. We need to focus on what we can do. We need to think ‘solution’. We need to think ‘opportunity’. What we don’t need to do is get caught up in the growing hysteria that threatens to drag us down into the low – and debilitating – vibration of fear.

The Coward Dies a Thousand Deaths

There is an old saying that ‘the coward dies a thousand deaths’.

The coward imagines all of the bad things that could happen to him so many times before anything actually happens that on a psychological/emotional level it is like dying a thousand times.

But thinking about it logically, there are only two possibilities for this coward: 1) He ultimately dies. 2) He doesn’t die.

If he is destined to die, better to just suffer once than live (and suffer) his death a thousand times before it actually happens.

If he isn’t destined to die, then what a waste of energy worrying so much about it.

So if we bring the topic back to COVID-19, rather than let fear seize a hold of us, we need to shift our focus to what we can do, to what we can control, and – believe it or not – the potential positives of the situation (I’ll get to this in a bit).

Learn good hygiene practices. Do what we can to lower the chance of infection. Do what we can to build a strong immune system and a healthy body.

These things are all in our power, and this, naturally, is where Reiki, Pellowah, meditation and the like come into things.

Personally, I’d bet that the healthier we are, and the stronger our immune system is, the lower our chances of contracting COVID-19 are. But even if this is not the case, as far as we know, having a strong immune system is a big help in fighting off the virus. That – from what we can tell at this point – is why children are barely affected, and why the vast majority of the virus’s victims are elderly.

Sadly, no one is allowed to make medical claims to the effect that Reiki and Pellowah, etc., do anything for your health. But both my personal and professional experience suggest they are a big help in recovering from a lot of physical conditions, including the flu.

Most likely you either practice Reiki or know someone who has received Reiki (or have received it yourself), so don’t take my word for it, use your own experience.

Or simply think about when you typically succumb to the seasonal flu.

Normally, it is after you have been abusing your body (too much work, not enough sleep, etc.), abusing your emotions (unrest with friends, family, etc.), or abusing your mind (you’ve got stuck in negative thinking, or simply overthinking!).

I’m not saying it can never happen any other way, but look back over your past and you’ll probably find that you tend to catch a cold or get unwell after a period of physical/emotional/mental abuse.

So if you can use tools like Reiki and Pellowah and meditation (or yoga or whatever) to cultivate inner balance and wellbeing, then this is likely to help if COVID-19 does strike.

And if it doesn’t – which, just between you and me, is far more probable – then you’ll also receive the benefits because you’ll experience greater wellbeing.

Opportunity in Crisis

Few people – if any – understand their life journey in all of its details. How often does something seemingly bad turn out to be for our ultimate good? We all have many such stories.

Pain, suffering, challenges – so often they are the seed for greater inner growth, for greater levels of physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing.

Ask the cancer survivor and they will often tell you their cancer was the best thing that ever happened to them (so often, in fact, that it has become a cliché).

Yes, what they went through wasn’t pleasurable, but they emerged from their illness a new person, a person with greater depth and wisdom.

So while we cannot always control what happens to us, we can nevertheless control how we react to it (if only in our thoughts).

We get to choose the meaning an event has and, with that, we get to manage our emotional experience of it.

They say that ‘the only thing to fear is fear itself’, and in the current situation ‘fear’ might be a bigger danger than the virus.

So let’s focus on what we can control. Let’s focus on doing what we can to be the healthiest, most balanced, happiest individuals we can be. Let’s use the threat of COVID-19 as a spur to do everything we can to upgrade our physical, emotional and psychological states.

And let’s remember that we often grow the most in periods of challenge.

Above all, let’s focus on the positive, not the fear.

Good can come from anything, even the challenge we now face.

(Disclaimer: This article is the opinion of Jeremy O’Carroll. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. Never disregard the advice of a medical professional or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this article.

This article is the fruit of Jeremy’s personal experience, but he is not a medical doctor and is not offering professional medical/psychological advice.)

Learn more about Jeremy O'Carroll

To find out more about Jeremy O'Carroll and his Reiki courses, or to pick his free e-book 'Understanding the 7 Chakras' visit http://www.om-reiki.com.au/courses.html. To get Jeremy O'Carroll's latest Amazon best-selling book 'The Perfect Reiki Course: Everything You Need to Know Before Your First Class, visit Amazon.com.au)