Ninja social distancing

Social distancing while out can be frustrating.  You’re minding your own business, keeping your distance, being careful and then out of the blue someone wobbles directly towards you or a cyclist skims you from behind.  And up it comes, all the irritation and, yes, downright anger you’re feeling about this crazy situation.  Letting it out isn’t great but keeping it stuffed inside isn’t healthy either.  Maybe there’s another way…

Here’s one technique that might help.  It was taught to me by Sue Weston, a wonderful qigong, tai chi and dance instructor and a version of it appears in my new book The Energy Secret.  I’ve mainly used it in the past when I went to cities, for navigating commuter rushes on the tube or in busy streets.  However I’ve been using it during lockdown when I take my daily walk.  Now more than ever we need to be aware of our movements and how to dodge those without high levels of spatial awareness (that’s a nice way of putting it).  It also puts you in more control of the situation – you’re the warrior – rather than relying on other people to do ‘the right thing’.  And, trust me, that takes away a lot of angst.

If you like, you can turn it into a game – think of the other people as the zombies or whatever floats your boat.

Space dancing

• Become aware of the people around you as you walk. The aim is not to touch any of them. They will be walking blindly but you turn ninja, walking silently through the forest, not making a twig bend or break.
• You are ‘dancing’ your way through people, moving fluidly and smoothly, sliding through.
• Anticipate how others will move; look ahead all the time; become aware of the whole space around you.  Check behind you, to the sides.  You see the whole picture
• Let your vision flit from close distance to middle distance and far distance.
• Send out your energetic feelers to sense where people are. In time you will find you see ‘your’ path through the crowd and the whole exercise will become supremely effortless.

Let me know how you get on?

The Energy Secret has a host of techniques that teach how to handle your own, and other people’s, energy.  It’s tailor-made for tricky times like this.