Lock Down Update Day 73 – 75

Day 73 – One of the things that has greatly benefited and helped me during this time in Isolation has been taking part in an online nightly (for me) Global Gayatri Sangha with Deva Premal and Miten. These beautiful souls have given time each day to share themselves and support people around the world. It has given a safe space to sing sacred songs, along with the Gayatri Mantra meditation at its chore. Of course starting at 10pm our time, it for me has been the perfect relaxing way to end the days and prepare for sleep. It has been transformational learning so much to enhance my own meditation practice and enabled me to go deeper in this short time. Sadly it ends in 3 days having ran for 77 days (11 weeks) I hope they enjoy some solitude and space before returning back into what I am sure is a very busy life constantly travelling around the world. In the first 40 to 50 days the live stream was watched by between 75 -100 thousand people, now down to just over 3,000 as the world has started coming out of Isolation. The greatest gift of this experience is that although Deva has a beautiful voice which I have listened to for many years, I felt a greater spiritual depth coming from these daily sessions. Unplugged, improvised, only the guitar, singing from the heart, Miten joining in, and the freedom to change rhythms has given a whole new experience. It has incorporated and balanced the male and female energies making the experience more whole and complete. They too have been inspired by these events connecting and communicating with so many people around the world, so the good news is they want to carry on this gathering once a week keeping our hearts beating as one, breathing in synchronicity and chanting healing sacred words in unison. As I look back over these months there has been many beautiful souls joining together for peace and harmony with many giving freely their talents and time, all towards a better world and way of being. They have all sent out high vibrations and I feel we have been truly blessed to have slowed down assessing in which direction we wish to head post these extraordinary times.

Day 74 – A 46,000-year-old sacred Aboriginal site in Western Australia has just been obliterated to make way for further iron ore mining in the area! Yes you read that right! I am sure more news of such devastation will come out while we have been distracted these last months, is this the last push as they know people are waking up to their destructions for money? Authorization for the demolition was granted by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in 2013 in accordance with the 1972 Aboriginal Heritage Act, which was drafted to favour mining opportunities. The 48-year old Act is criticised for being outdated and is presently under review to prevent these situations arising (which is more than likely why it has happened now before it changes). The act says that they must first apply to the Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee but there is no statutory requirement for an Indigenous person to be on the committee! and there’s no right of appeal against a committee decision. A director of PKKP Aboriginal Corporation and Kurrama Land Committee says “It’s really, really hard to swallow that it’s no longer there”, whilst Rito Tinto, the mining company responsible has defended its actions saying permission was granted in 2013.

Whilst we are on this theme of chaos it has been found that even Non-Antibiotic Drugs Can Promote Antibiotic Resistance with researchers testing just 6 other drugs reporting that “We did find nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (e.g. ibuprofen), a lipid-lowering drug, and a β-blocker significantly promoted the bacterial transformation.” All this news and similar reports way heavy on the psyche of most of us, but we must remember that things are going to change even if by dire necessity! Ahh I’m now in need of another mantra, this version of the Gayatri Mantra includes Chakra clearing to send out to the world and for balancing our own chakras too.

Day 75 – Whooo we are moving into phase 2 of de escalation of lockdown, I am not sure why I am so excited as I am really not sure what the benefits are, there seems to be a lot of confusion around what we can and cannot do! I know that many bars and restaurants will now open as they can have people inside although at a 1/3 capacity, this had stopped many opening the last few weeks as with tiny terraces and distancing, paying staff would not have been economical. The beaches are opening too between 12 and 8pm, again confusion as I was horrified to hear they would be disinfecting them 4 times a day! Reading the information again it may be the facilities showers, wooden ramps and toilets that they refer to not the beach itself, I do hope so otherwise this would be horrific for the natural wildlife. I am not a beach person so I won’t be visiting except for my walk and paddle which is where the confusion is coming in, are we not allowed on the beach at all outside of these hours? Swimming pools will open but only with an appointment, a time slot to visit from our communities. Somebody told me that I would still only be allowed out before 10 am for a walk, the rest of the hours I would need to be on a beach, in a shop or in a bar! Shopping centres will re open along with cinemas etc. with reduced capacity to give safe distance. With this much confusion I can guarantee with the sun shining and summer arriving, from Monday when this move occurs and with so much confusion everybody will be out doing what they want and when they want keeping safe distances and wearing masks!

I wish you a very happy weekend, I know it will be hard for many tomorrow (Sunday) knowing greater freedom will occur on Monday. For all the workers who have the day off, again they will have to stay indoors between 10am and 8pm knowing they will have to wait until next Sunday to start enjoying a little more freedom. It doesn’t seem fair for those who have worked all these months and put themselves at greater risks to make sure we have all had the basics! I feel your frustrations, so as i wish for you to stay safe and take precautions to protect yourself and loved ones, please take care of your mental health too, you will come through this 💜

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One last look at empty beaches before they re-open on Monday