When COVID-19 first really became a thing in the US, I was at an artist mastermind and conference. So, I heard little bits here and there before I left, but by the time I went back home, it filled the news and social media with all the reports of hoarding. It took me a while to figure out what on earth had happened,
I went away for a week, but it felt like I left one world, and came back to another.
Although, I’m still bemused by the panic over toilet paper!
But, as I was trying to get my feet back under me and figure out what I needed to do, I noticed that people were likening this to the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. There are a few people alive who lived through it, but they are very few, and were very young.
So we do not collectively understand what a pandemic means as far as day-to-day life goes. World, national, and local leaders are scrambling to figure out what their response should be – and being criticized whatever it is they decide. I’m glad I’m not in their shoes!
However, we know through the study of epigenetics, that we can pass trauma down through generations, and shape beliefs and behavior in the descendants of that trauma, who have not experienced the trauma themselves.
Is that part of what we’re seeing here?
I think it might be.
The Spanish Flu killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, with 675,000 deaths in the United States. There was little the medical community could to to stop the spread or assist people who acquired it (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html, accessed 4/6/20).
I imagine that people felt powerless, fear, worry, insecure – as well as grief and sadness related to the isolation and quarantine efforts designed to limit the spread of the disease.
Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it?
And the Spanish Flu isn’t the first pandemic, by any means. So, is it possible that even then, they were reacting in some ways because of earlier epigenetic changes?
Could be.
We can’t change how other people at other times in history reacted to pandemics, but we can do our part to change how we are responding to this one.
I want to reiterate what I said last time. It’s okay not to be okay. This is new, different, unusual, and has effected us all on many levels.
But, I also don’t want this to be any worse for you than it has to be.
Something that may help you, is to journal about how you feel, if your emotions are just swirling around and you can’t sort them out.
I’ll be writing again about different techniques to release those emotions, but for now, imagine all the sadness, grief, anxiety, fear, and whatever else as it is in your body right now. Then picture gathering all of that up out of every cell and part of you into a big ball or something. Picture yourself placing all of that into Jesus’s hands, or at the foot of the cross.
If you can do them as a group, that’s great, but they may swirl too much for you to do that. It’s perfectly fine to do them one by one, if that works best for you. The main goal is to get them out!
Also, don’t reason with yourself that you shouldn’t feel that way, or someone has it worse than you, or whatever. Don’t minimize what you’re feeling. Honor yourself and how this experience is effecting you so you can effectively deal with those emotions.
And again… it’s okay not to be okay.
Jesus knows everything you’re going through, and he can handle it ALL! In fact, he paid a high price for those emotions, so let him have what he paid for! Don’t deny your emotions, you just don’t want them stored in your system to cause you trouble later on!
Once you feel you have given him all the emotions you’re holding for now, then you can pray through the following.
Jesus, thank you for taking these emotions, and helping me to carry them, and to deal with them. I confess and repent of holding onto negative emotions more than I need to and revoke any agreements I’ve made with them. I give them all to you, and I place your blood between all of that and me. Please fill me with your peace, comfort (whatever you need!) during this time and help me give that to others.
Father, I confess and repent for any agreements that my ancestors may have made with trauma from any pandemic at any point throughout history. I pull out all of that wiring in my DNA and give it to Jesus. I also confess and repent of any agreements I have made in this time because of this epigenetic trauma. I gather all of that up, revoking all of its rights to me and to my family and bloodline from this point forward. I cast it all to the Cross of Christ and place the blood of Jesus between all of that and me and my bloodline. I ask you Jesus, to rewire all areas of my or my family’s DNA that has been effected by this and replace that DNA with yours, or rewire it according to your perfect plan and purpose for our bodies. Thank you for filling us with your peace and helping us to better process this trauma.
Feel free to repeat this as often as you need to.
I’ll be back soon with other ways to release specific emotions, but this is already long enough!