I believe we changed our language, be it nonverbal, and it’s changing our psychology. If we don’t find some ways to adapt and heal through this, the level of emotional depression is going to overwhelm our societies…in fact it already is.
Some examples of how we are generally nonverbally changing:
- People walking past us not looking at us, not smiling at us, acting like we have a disease they could catch…this has psychological ramifications.
- People staying 6ft or more apart when normal interactions are closer.
- People not hugging or touching as a greeting.
- People not showing joy at seeing one another out of fear they may get sick.
Additional examples of how our communities are changing:
- We are no longer seeing people in person in classes – yoga, dance, school, etc. While it may seem minimal, simple interactions like initial greetings and smiles before class, the ways we nod at one another and intonations of voice that are different in person than on zoom. All of these affect us at a deeper level.
- We no longer smile at people in stores or on the street and eye contact has gone down for most people. While again these may seem minimal they are normal interactions in a society built on communication and these non-verbal responses to one another are important in maintaining the feelings of being part of a society.
- Because we are not in restaurants, movie theaters, churches, music venues, etc. we have much less interaction with people than we used to and even if you are living with people, your interactions with others who have different communication styles have gone down and this can create a feeling of loneliness because there are no new connections or different connections on a daily basis.
Yes we can know on one level it’s a pandemic, it’s not personal…yet it can still feel deeply personal. It can create deeper structures of loneliness, especially when you are not having the level of community connections you had prior to the isolation.
What can we do?
Try to smile more at people even if they cannot see your face, I believe we can sense the good energy and it does create a vibrational connection.
Say good morning, good afternoon, hope you have a good day, etc. as you pass people on the street, at the grocery store, etc. Take the opportunity to connect vocally when you cannot nonverbally.
Send more texts saying ‘hope you are having a good day’ to those you care about to continue connections that you may have had in person in the past.
Try to create new connections through joining online meet ups or online yoga or other classes. While it’s not in person, having nonverbal feedback in video can still create some of the connections that are important.
What else are you doing to create connections? I’d love to hear, please comment so others can learn and we can all find new ways to connect together.
Blessings, Satya
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