Pandemic Stress: The Solution Could be Within Ourselves
“This practice changed everything on a spiritual, emotional, and physical level.”
By Austin Waymire
With the immense stress and worry that comes with a pandemic, Joshua Dryden intends to aid people in that relief, and he claims the answers aren’t further than our own bodies.
25-year-old Joshua Adam Dryden could be considered a “modern day shaman.” Dryden is a former corporate executive for Verizon, now a digital nomad. Though the money was satisfying as an executive, Josh felt out of tune. He found himself feeling completely empty and lacking self expression.
That was until he found spirituality. Or it found him.
Josh says “I feel we are always receiving dots of our spiritual path… My experience has been that at some point those dots start to connect more and more, thus bringing us into remember who we truly are: a spiritual entity having a human experience.”
“There has always been a part inside that was [at] search while at the same time spirit is seeking you. The feeling that comes over us has been described as a Gnosis.”
Gnosis is formally defined as “knowledge of spiritual matters; mystical knowledge” by Dictionary.com. This could be an especially strong idea to Joshua, yet an idea was the least it would be.
Those spiritual dots admittedly lined up and connected perfectly. Spiritual matters and mystical knowledge eventually became Dryden’s lifestyle.
A one-week escape from his executive job was all he needed to find clarity: a visit to a friend in San Diego and inevitably “a dive inward to where the universe was pulling [him] to” as he explained in an Instagram post. Dryden shortly ditched the corporate ladder and became a spiritual life coach. As he said in the same Instagram post, “I choose to live my purpose. Do what I love to do, pushing people to [live] their potential.”
A modern-day shaman. Dryden perfects a craft of guidance, aid, and direction through spirituality. In a global crisis like this, those three things could be what people are looking for.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions. Public health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety.
Based on a survey by the Harris Poll from April 24 to May 4, 2020 on behalf of the American Psychological Association, the reported stress level for adults in the U.S. regarding the coronavirus was 5.9. When asked to rate their stress level in general, the average reported stress for U.S. adults was 5.4. To put it in perspective, the average stress level reported in 2019 was 4.9. This marks the first large increase in average stress reported since 2007, when the survey began.
The Coronavirus is bringing forth complications and feelings that were not as drastic before. Admittedly, people are worried. People are stressed. People are looking for help in relieving that stress.
In the best way possible, this couldn’t be a better time for Dryden and his spiritual craft. When asked for some easy and effective ways to relieve stress and anxiety during the pandemic, Dryden gave his guidance.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB6EzA_Mac5/
“The practices that come to mind I want to share are three things I find that will CLEAN your life and launch you into health all around. Mediation, breath work, and a plant based, organic, gluten free diet. These three things have been pillars in the building of my path. Meditation brings support of stress, anxiety, reprogramming your subconscious, & more. Breath work will strengthen you, boost your immune system, rewire the chemical makeup inside of your brain, and more. Lastly, plant-based eating alone will change the frequency of what you are putting in our body; there is nothing more important than the energy that you digest. This practice changed everything on a spiritual, emotional, and physical level.”
The best part, these are all things that start with the people themselves. Coronavirus stress answers do not have to be further than our own bodies. Our own spirits. Spiritually, resolution all starts from within as Josh says:
“We all hold the answers inside that we seek.”
