Finding Hope when things are challenging

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-7yk5d-d7cb24

In this segment of Inner Voice – Heartfelt Chat with Dr. Foojan on KMET 1490 AM / ABC News Radio (Finding Hope when things are challenging), Dr. Foojan Zeine talks to Dr. Saeid karandish, an internist who has been on the front line of the CoronoVirus patients in NY.  He shares his experience and gives tips for people who have been infected and for what people can do not to be infected.  Dr. Foojan talks to Bill O’Hanlon, Speaker, psychotherapist, author and a musician. Bill spoke about how to find hope when things are challenging, how to evaluate what is and then shift to the best of there is at this time.  He gives us a special performance with his own song.  www.FOOJAN.com 

Are you Sad?

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This week I have been experiencing the shift from denial, fear, annoyance, and frustration to fear and sadness.  I have conversations with clients, friends, family, doctors, nurses, psychotherapists and more which relays the message that most people are now facing these changes and the losses that have brought into their lives.

How has the coronavirus changed your life?

What losses are you experiencing?

What has changed in your life that you wished it hadn’t?

What changes are you welcoming?

What are your blessings?

What are you grateful for?

I have never experienced being home for 15 days. I never experienced not being with my friends and clients for so long. I feel the loss of socializing, being with my friends and family under the same roof, kissing them, hugging them, and looking at their beautiful eyes.  I feel the loss of sitting in the same room and caring for my clients.  I feel sad that I have lost the freedom to go anywhere as I wished. I feel sad that we have to move away from each other when we are at a grocery store. I feel sad no one rings my home bell to come to my home. I feel sad that I can’t go to the most wonderful restaurants that I like. I feel sad and anxious about financial instability for the foreseeable future. I feel sad and anxious that I lost my safety and security. I feel sad that people take advantage of others. I feel sad to see people have lost their jobs. I feel sad to see sadness and fear of everyone’s heart and face.

I feel grateful that I have a great relationship with my husband and we are sharing quality time together.  I feel grateful that I have amazing friends and family who are all safe and well around the world.  I feel grateful for the technology that has allowed me to contact and share with my clients, friends, family, and society at large through media.  I am truly grateful for zoom, apple, google and many of these people at these companies who are allowing us to have close contact.  I feel grateful and thankful to all the doctors and nurses and hospital workers who are working so hard to keep our loved ones safe and healthy.  I am grateful to see great, compassionate people coming together to help each other. I am blessed to have all of you in my life and I am grateful that I have to opportunity to support and be there for you and people that need it.

Share with me, with someone, anyone.  Please don’t stay isolated.  Connect.

Love

Foojan

Overcoming through Wisdom – Inner Voice – Dr. Foojan Zeine talks to Melody Moezi

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-rhjcv-d71df3

In this segment of Inner Voice – Heartfelt Chat with Dr. Foojan on KMET 1490 AM / ABC News Radio (Overcoming through wisdom), Dr. Foojan Zeine talks to Eileen Manookian, founder of GemEducare about tips to be used by parents for their young children while everyone is going through a lockdown at home. Dr. Foojan talks to Melody Moezi, Activist, attorney, and author of Rumi Prescription talks about her relationship with her father and the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi and how Rumi’s wisdom has helped her long time struggle with bipolar.  She has done an amazing job of translating Rumi’s poems.  www.FOOJAN.com 

Hang in there however you can

Announcement 

In respect to the CoronoVirus Stress, I am offering sliding scale online psychotherapy and life coaching to anyone who is suffering financially.

FREE

Sharing Meeting with Dr. Foojan Zeine & Experts

every Thursday at 6 PM via Zoom. Meeting ID: 689 941 5883

 

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This week, the beginning of spring can create a new beginning for all of us around the world.  Learning how to be connected and loving toward each other while being physically distant.

Are you afraid? Are you getting panic attacks?  Are you bored and can’t stand it anymore? Are you finding yourself in a bind with your relationships at home? Are you wondering what the fuss is? Are you determined to buy a gun and guard yourself against all others who might endanger your safety? Are you worried about how to pay your rent or mortgage? Are you responsible for your family financially and have no idea what to do?  Are you at a loss of what to say to your children when they keep asking you why they can go back to school to see their friends?

You have every right to all of those concerns and emotions. Your emotions are normal and need to be addressed.

You have the right to be afraid of your own health and the health of your loved ones. Let’s see what is in your control, what can you do? take social distancing seriously, wash your hands repeatedly, refrain from touching your face, boost your immune system, exercise to keep your stamina up, and meditate to calm yourself down.

What can you do with being bored? learn a new language or musical instrument, organize your home, write your life story, learn to paint, recite poetry, read all the books that you have not had time to read, watch movies, play board games with your family, and allow your creative and playful side to shine.

Too many long hours with your spouse and children and you are getting saturated and need your cave time?  then communicate it and take it.  Arrange a time with your family to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner where you spend quality time with each other and then everyone can go to their corner and do their own activities in between.  Go out for a walk when you know you need your “me” time.

If you are not taking this matter seriously and think it is just an overreaction, then please honor others,  all the ones that you love and keep them safe, you could infect or be a transmitter of an infectious virus to others.  The new report says that 30% of US cases have been among 20-44 years old, so please be a team player and do your part.

I do not recommend protection by purchasing a gun since I do not promote violence.  If you don’t own one and don’t know how to use one, you probably will not be able to use it effectively at the time of high stress and might end up hurting yourself and others in your household or worst, add a gun to the robber’s collection when they will take it from you.

Financial worries are at the height of many people’s concerns.  look at what the federal government is offering so that you can get support from.  Cut down from non-essential expenditures.  Ask for help from friends or the family if you need it. Look for temporary jobs that are posted.

Your children need activities to keep them occupied.  get creative and find tasks, home projects, or art projects to do together.  Have them video chat with their friends and peers for socialization.  Take them for a walk, run, bike riding and so on.  Let them know that we are all staying home to keep ourselves and each other safe and as soon as all of us have a handle on this virus that we will go back to our normal routine.  Create a weekly schedule for your family and post it in the kitchen.

We will get through this, let’s utilize this time to learn new skills and new ways of dealing with the new reality.

Keep healthy and safe

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous year ahead

Love

Foojan

The Triumph of Diversity- Inner Voice – Dr. Foojan Zeine talks to Dr. Arthur Ciaramicoli

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-eb5a9-d6680a

In this segment of Inner Voice – Heartfelt Chat with Dr. Foojan on KMET 1490 AM / ABC News Radio (The Triumph of Diversity), Dr. Foojan Zeine talks to Dr. Arthur Ciaramicoli, psychologist and the author of the Triumph of Diversity: Rejoice in and Benefit from the Interconnectedness of Mankind Dr. Foojan talks about the latest research about the coronavirus spread line. Dr. Zeine also shares her view on how to handle your anxiety in relation to the Corona Virus.  www.FOOJAN.com 

We are all in this together

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It appears that the fear and panic rises as we pass every day with more news about the Corona Virus 19 and the uncertainty that it brings for all of us.  Conflicting news and facts are being flooded into major news networks and social media.  So what do we do?

Obviously, fear and panic do not help us psychologically or physically. So how do we handle the stress of being afraid for our health, financial burden, fear of not having enough, fear of dying, fear of your child being hurt, or just fear of extreme change?

With first taking a deep breath. Close your eyes. Remember we are all in this together, and we will all get through this together. Even though we do it from being apart from each other.

Now, let’s look at reality. What problems do you have to handle? Are you ill and have to take care of yourself? Do you have to handle your children or elderly parents? Do you have to take off from work and handle your finances? Do you need to get supplies? Do you have to handle your anxiety and boredom at home?  What is your particular issue?

You don’t have to handle the world issue. What do you need to do now for yourself and your family?  Just concentrate on that. Start writing it down on a paper as a to-do list and then prioritize it. This will get you to focus on what to do.

Now let’s see how you can calm your nerves. Listen to calming music, watch comedy, talk to someone you love, get a meditation app (pauseforpeace, or BeeZone) to calm you down, play with your children, create quality time with people around your If they live with you or via phone or FaceTime with people who are not living with you. Write the book you always wanted to write? The screenplay you were always wishing to write, all the projects around the house that you were going to finish.

We will all go through this.

Love

Foojan

Has the angst of the Corona Virus got you? You are not the only one

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I hope that you have had a stressless week, although I know that with all the coverage about the Corona Virus, it is hard not to feel the high stress that everyone is experiencing.

I have been talking to many of my friends and clients about their experience past couple of weeks regarding the Corona Virus.  There are people who have totally minimized it and see it as a nuisance that does not allow them to be free to go wherever they wanted to go, meet and greet people as they liked by shaking their hands, kissing or hugging.  Others take a rebellious act as if they will break the virus down if they just take on the attitude of “I don’t care” and go above and beyond touching and hugging and ridiculing the uproar about it.  Others think that I just have to protect my children and the elderly, but don’t’ need to take of myself since I am invincible and will not catch it.  Others think that if I just run from specific ethnicities (Chinees, Iranians, and Italians) I will be fine. Others have panicked and although they are going about their regular life, they are just fearful and angry at the threat of death that is constantly staring them in their face. And finally, others who have panicked and have isolated themselves at home and are scared to socialize with people.

It has been tough for everyone to either experience having a cold or the flu and be afraid for their own life and feel responsible, guilty and a sense of shame to possibly be a carrier for someone else to become sick.  I also have seen the sight of fear in people’s eyes when someone has a cold, sniffles or coughs around them.

How are you handling these weeks?

How has the Corona Virus affected your life?

How does watching the news, gathering the news through social media, and friends and family affect you?

How are you taking care of yourself?

I know that at first I had seen it as any other flu and thought that as long as I keep my immune system solid, I would be fine and have gone about my days as always.  However, as the news about the number of people who have been infected and the fatalities are released, I am becoming more concerned.  I remember prior years when my clients had the flu and would come to my office, I would think that I hope that I don’t get it but even if I do, one week later I will be fine.  Now, there is concern that lingers about getting the flu and transferring it to others. This is the first time in my life that I am experiencing the fear of receiving but more than anything being responsible for transferring this virus to anyone else.  Yet, I am not sure when it would be wise to shut down all business and socialization for self and other’s protection.

It is interesting that at a time of need when we actually need each other, at a time when we are sick and we need someone to take care of us, this particular virus has all of us keeping away and remaining isolated.  It is important to know that we are all connected in so many ways. Our connections which can heal at this time has turned into getting each other sick.  However, let’s keep our connections in a healthy way.  Let’s remind ourselves and others in our lives that we are here for each other. We will pass through this. Let’s honor our own body and others by doing what we can do to keep being healthy.

Anger, frustration, and fear just brings more stress to our body and weakens our immune system. Fear of losing what we have in life, our health, our freedom, the opportunities to be close, may also bring forth the appreciation and the gratitude of the beauty that we have. So let’s honor the beauty that we have in our hearts and with others.  We don’t have to isolate ourselves and feel alone. We can can do what we need to do to keep us healthy and connect with each other through all the different venues that are available.

Let’s keep it calm and real, protect yourself and others, honor yourself and others, and let’s get through this together.

Love

Foojan