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MORGANTOWN -- Compassion meditation may calm the nerves over the coronavirus, according to an expert at West Virginia University.
Practicing social distancing is one way to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, but practicing emotional closeness may help alleviate the anxiety the coronavirus can provoke, Julie Brefczynski-Lewis, a research assistant professor in the West Virginia University Department of Neuroscience, part of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, said.
"Switching to compassion mode" could manage the anxiety, she said.
Brefczynski-Lewis is an expert in compassion meditation, which she calls a technique for getting out of the claustrophobia of self-centeredness, cultivating concern for others and realizing we are not alone in our experience of suffering. She has published several peer-reviewed studies about meditation, mindfulness and neuroimaging.
Brefczynski-Lewis also developed a smartphone app to assist in applying meditation techniques for daily stress relief. She regularly leads mindfulness meditation sessions at the WVU Health Sciences Center and is involved in research that uses MRI, PET scans and electroencephalograms to reveal activity within the brain.
"When it comes to anxiety, and believe me, I am not exempt, I find that switching to compassion mode is most helpful. This is true in any situation, but especially so in a large-scale crisis," she said.
"You can start with a loved one or yourself and use compassion for your own anxiety or suffering as a springboard to think of the suffering of others in a similar situation," Brefczynski-Lewis said. "You can wish yourself and others happiness, freedom from suffering, ease or anything positive and helpful."
A review of random-controlled studies of compassion meditation has an effect that even exceeds antidepressants, which may carry over to anxiety, too, Brefczynski-Lewis said.
"At the very least, it may stop you from buying all the toilet paper," she said.