The Delta Variant

If you’re on social media, you’ve probably seen those funny-not-funny memes about the delta variant, the highly contagious mutation of the coronavirus. One frame, labeled “My Fall Plans,” is usually a happy person or cute animal. The other frame, labeled “The Delta Variant,” is, well, someone miserable or a swarm of murder hornets.

The delta variant has, indeed, caused a cascade of what meditation teachers often call “difficult emotions”: rage, fear, confusion, disappointment, and many more. Yes, there’s still plenty to be thankful for: just imagine if the delta variant had gotten here before vaccines did. But if you’re finding yourself in a stew of “difficult” feelings, I can assure you, you’re not alone.

Of course, mindfulness will not protect you from the virus. Nor will it banish all your difficult emotions so that you feel great about everything. But it does have three very useful superpowers. First, it can let you know what you’re feeling so that you don’t let your emotions “drive the bus.” Second, it can provide some short-term relief. And third, it can provide some perspective, some insight, and some wisdom that can enable you to have a more balanced relationship to this latest round of turbulence.

Let’s see how that plays out in practice.

1. Fear and Anxiety

Right now, many of us are afraid. Sure, for most vaccinated people, the odds of getting a serious case of Covid are extremely low. But for older people, immunocompromised people, and people who can’t be vaccinated (like my three-year-old daughter), the odds may be higher, the consequences are more severe, The delta variant is more contagious, more variants may be ahead, and there are good reasons to be anxious.

So, let’s look at those three mindfulness superpowers.

First, if you’re used to noticing emotions in meditation, your mind is now trained to do a quick gut check. Is your pulse racing? Is your mind catastrophizing? Do you feel like you want to jump out of your skin? Okay! Anxiety and fear may be present.

Now, the point is not to judge yourself for having these feelings. It’s also not to justify or criticize them. Maybe your fears are “rational” and maybe they’re not. Who cares? What does a “rational emotion” even mean? Anxiety has arisen, that’s all. Instead, the point is to cultivate some self-compassion and probably not decide in this moment about that trip to see your family next month.

Speaking from experience, this dance is actually very hard to do! It’s natural to not want to feel anxiety, or to judge yourself for feeling it. It’s also natural to, in response, explain to yourself why actually the fear is totally justified. The mindful move here is to both accept anxiety with self-compassion and notice when it’s driving your decisions, which is generally not a good idea.

Second, you can also use meditative tools to calm down. Keep it simple: taking nice, long, relaxed breaths with good, full exhales. Feeling the weight of your body when you’re sitting or standing. There are plenty of these exercises in the Ten Percent app, and they have been proven to work.

But since pacifying yourself is really only a temporary fix, meditation can also be used to gain some insight and perspective on the fear you’re feeling. Wow, fear is hard – imagine what it’s like to be afraid for your safety all the time because of how you look or are perceived, or where you live. Imagine what people are going through right now, all over the world. This suffering is an unavoidable part of the human condition; you’re not doing life wrong, you’re doing it right. And this is why we meditate: to lessen the grip of this fear on ourselves and others. This is even an opportunity to grow.

In this way, not only do you work more skillfully with fear, but your fear can become grist for the mill of your personal growth and transformation.

2. Anger

Similarly with anger. As longtime readers know, I’ve worked with anger my entire life. Both my parents had nasty tempers, and it’s taken years of therapy, meditation, medication, and patience to unlearn those habits and cultivate new ones.

It’s definitely a work in progress. Over the last few months, I have felt a ton of rage at the unvaccinated and, even more, the politicians who have enabled them. But, just like anxiety, even if this anger is justified, it’s not helpful. It’s not motivating me to do anything productive, least of all engage with the vaccine-hesitant. It’s only causing suffering.

So, as with fear and anxiety, the first superpower of mindfulness is noticing that anger is present. I know what anger feels like in my body: the quaking arms, the tensing jaw. So when I feel it, have learned to pause. I don’t respond, don’t post, don’t rant, don’t go down rabbit holes. That alone is worth all the meditation I’ve ever done.

Second, I do very simple meditative exercises: literally, taking a deep breath; or unclenching the jaw; nothing fancy. Calming, just as with fear.

And third, I remember that these people’s decisions are not under my control, and hope that they will not suffer too much as they pass the virus around and get us toward herd immunity. I let go.

3. Confusion, Disappointment, and Uncertainty

Finally, even if you’re not dealing with fear or anger, now is just a confusing time. People have different levels of safety protocols, the situation is changing, and things aren’t as over as they once seemed. It’s totally understandable that you might feel disappointed, disoriented, or just plain dissed by the delta variant.

Fortunately, the same superpowers apply. First, accept and notice: you’re confused, sad, disappointed, or uncertain. Just noticing that can let you know that it might be time for some self-care. So do some! It might be lovingkindness meditation for yourself – for example, as Diana Winston teaches in the app, holding yourself like a mother holds a young child. Disappointment is hard, uncertainty is hard; it’s okay to feel this. On the other hand, it might be time for something more energetic, like Jeff Warren’s fast walking meditation. Whatever tool seems like it might help, mindfulness helps you know when it’s time to reach for it.

And lastly, some wisdom. As Sharon Salzberg and Oren Sofer have written in Ten Percent Weekly, this unpredictability and impermanence is, like pain, an unavoidable part of the human experience. This is how things are: we plan, and sometimes our plans get ruined. That doesn’t mean we give up and don’t plan anything – it means we do our best, knowing that outcomes are mostly not under our control.

These insights don’t make everything worthwhile -- I’m not glad that the delta variant is providing these “learning experiences.” But they do make meditation worthwhile. Because we do grow by learning to relate more mindfully and compassionately to the fear, anger, confusion, disappointment, and whatever else you may be feeling right now. This is the invitation that life extends to us.