An analysis of COVID19, by Mariana Planells, psychiatrist (04/19/2020).

We are used to focusing on the physical symptoms of being infected with a virus, but this now-
famous Coronavirus also unleashed significant emotional symptoms. Above all, fear. It reminds
me of certain viruses that have already caused fear in the past, such as HIV or Ebola, among
others, but these were somehow linked to a certain population on the planet, instead the
Corona affects us all, everyone in this planet, and that's why we call it a pandemic.

Etymologically, the word pandemic comes from the Greek pan ("everything") and démos
("people"). And although we must confess a negative connotation that we ascribe to it,
thinking of something disastrous, tragic, a global crisis, and even a feeling of apocalyptic tinge,
at its origin, it rather meant "what affects the entire population", and in writings of Plato and
Aristotle appears as a synonym for "what is public" or "what concerns to all people."

It is clear that, in any case, the human being today cannot stop stressing when we hear that we
are going through a pandemic, and living the consequences of a world entering a protection
mode, where another intimidating word appears, quarantine. This word that appears on
everyone's mouth today, and is infinitely echoed through the media, generating more fear,
more stress, which adds to the massive confinement that we experience, almost surreal at
times.

Much to process, total change of routine, habits, lifestyles and even ways of being. We were
forced to abandon everyday life, and also the autopilot, which we are used to activating for
most of our days. That habitual subconscious way of operating automatically does not go any
further. We face the unknown, at least in one or more spheres. Doing a job in a new way,
shopping in a new way, cooking new things, doing new things with the time we have, or
relating in new ways with our cohabitants, and with ourselves. Having a time that we did not
have before, or did not want to have, that invites us to introspection and to questions that
arise, sometimes even existential. This pause, puts us in touch with thoughts, feelings,
sensations, to which we were not accustomed, and that perhaps were waiting for us to pay
attention to them, which was not possible in the midst of the daily whirlwind, in which we
were finding ourselves.

This, my friends, is the realm of the emotional. Here, feelings and thoughts sprout, which have
their roots in our past, and especially in our childhood, when this kingdom is created. At this
time of our lives, until approximately 7 years old, we operate in brain waves that allow us to
build a suitable subconscious to be part of the family and community to which we "belong",
and it does so through the direct download of everything we perceive, see, and hear from our
environment. Without distinction, from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, we begin to download
all the information we collect from the environment that surrounds us, we copy actions,
thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, ways of reacting and being, of all kinds.

The counterpart of the subconscious is the conscious. This conscious mind is the one that
allows us to think, plan, project, where are our desires and wishes, our dreams, the one that
makes us think that we can achieve what we set out to do, and we can observe its power in
one of the most wonderful states that we can experience that it is to be in love. In love with
another person, with oneself, with a project, with whatever, and there, we will see how we
discover the courage, strength, perseverance, and conviction that lead us to achieve things
that we did not think possible at another time.

Let me relate then that this virus, if we take it as a message from the Universe, as I personally
see it, and adhering to the idea that "everything happens for a reason", is a message that
would be read as I will try to express here: "Stop! Stop everyone a bit! As it seems that you
have not realized that your actions have led you to a place in the direction of the greatest
possible destruction of Gaia, mother Earth, and the very extinction of the human race, here
you have a crisis, and for those who can see it, an opportunity, to review your own actions,
your own thoughts and emotions, a longer time than you would want in an ideal situation for
introspection, and to try to stop this pandemic, not only physically successful, but also
successful in the mental and in the spiritual. I wish you that you can look inward, and be more
present, more aware, noticing that the subconscious programs that have conditioned you to a
limiting vision of existence, must be changed and updated, to experience your essential
creative being with infinite potential, which is love in essence, and energy, energy that involves
and contains everyone, and there the immense illuminated feeling of belonging to the whole,
and that we are all one ”.

What we all do affects everyone, we are an irreplaceable part of the whole, we are, in essence,
seeing through atoms, at the quantum level, energy. And everything around us is, in essence,
energy. If we are able to realize what this means, and even more if we are able to experience
it, we will also realize that we must change our ways, we must change our actions, thoughts,
behaviors and beliefs, connecting more with our essential being, who knows what is good for
us and what is wrong for us, which encourages us to pursue our conscious goals to fully
experience this human life, and to do what we came here to do, in this existence. Our Dharma,
or purpose in life. That it will always guide us in order to evolve towards being better humans,
and in the future, a better humanity, where love, compassion, and collaboration reign.

We need a paradigm shift to achieve it. We come from a Darwinian and materialistic paradigm,
where competition, rather than collaboration, prevails to obtain what we think of as power,
with the accumulation of material goods, which, according to the materialistic vision, is the
only thing there is, where we ourselves, from Newtonian physics, are sophisticated machines,
also material. It is not by chance the emotionality that appears in this circumstance, that the
already old paradigm with its materialism and conditioning, taught us how to deny and repress
emotions, to focus better on what we were taught to think, to compete, and that the fittest
will survive, rather than concentrating on feeling. What we think can deceive us, but not what
we feel in the heart and depth of our being.

So, in conclusion, I tell you that I see in these times of pandemic, a clear message to
introspection, to learn about who we really are, what we come here for, and what we really
want, leaving aside all past conditioning, to achieve together this paradigm shift, which will
allow us to build a better future for all, for us, and for Gaia, the nature of which we are part.

www.marianaplanells.com