FEARS over the spread of the coronavirus in local communities have been described as the more serious pandemic.
Health and wellness experts have called on people to follow the physical aspect of social distancing and not the mental ones.
Techniques on how to follow health and safety rules without self isolating the mind from the world were discussed during a webinar organised by the Nine Training Centre Bahrain.
Yoga and meditation were among the key takeaways to ensure mental wellness during the Covid-19 pandemic, which were discussed at the event titled ‘Elevating Mental, Physical Health and Well-Being in Coping with Covid-19’.
Among the speakers were Oman-based Whispers of Serenity Clinic founder Sayyida Basma Al Said, who spoke on the importance of being mindful in these unprecedented times.
“The biggest pandemic is fear as this is perhaps the first time mankind is together, as one team, facing an invisible enemy,” she said.
“The situation that we are in is a wakeup call and we need to fight this fear to overcome this phase.”
The mental health consultant and psychotherapist with more than 20 years of experience detailed the difference between social and physical distancing, asking people to continue checking up on friends and family during these times.
“What we actually need is physical distancing and there is a miscommunication on the phrase ‘social distancing’,” she said.
“This is the time to be close when it comes to asking about each other or finding out what’s going on with others, especially with the older ones.
“We need to maintain physical distancing and not isolating from everyone.”
Warned
Bahrain celebrated Eid Al Fitr amidst strict health guidelines to contain the spread of the virus, especially social distancing.
The public was strictly warned against large gatherings amongst friends and family.
The new measures included limiting gatherings to the immediate family in a household, maintaining social distancing and avoiding visiting relatives and friends during the Eid holiday. Ms Al Said also cautioned of post-traumatic stress disorder following the pandemic, which she said could be in mild or extreme in varying cases.
Also speaking at the webinar was Bahrain-based wellness coach Kamlesh Jain, who shared insights into neuro-linguistic programming and proposed yoga and meditation as a medium to turn fear into strength.
“The fear of something, which has been there for centuries but not dealt with, has emerged a bigger pandemic in today’s situation,” she explained.
“It is the fear of the virus that is making Covid-19 so huge and we need to overcome this with mindfulness and for this our state of mind matters.”
Ms Jain is the managing director at the TCM Acupressure and Sujok Therapy and is an energy healer.
The other speaker at the event was counsellor Arti Razdan, who creates de-stress programmes for corporates and highlighted ways to overcome stress, anxiety and depression during the pandemic.
Bahrain has been witnessing an increase in daily coronavirus cases in the last couple of weeks, from an average of 60 cases a day to an average of 200 cases a day with the numbers going over 300 in the last few days.
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