“I feel rattled, of course,” Bruce Robertson told me, “but I don’t feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under me. It is as though I’ve lived my whole life in preparation for this.”
Bruce is a centred, mindful guy. He’s calm and thoughtful. He has magic hands that soothe and unknot his grateful massage clients. Bruce is a magic masseuse and a yogi master who shared his meditation lessons free during the lockdown.
“I thought some guided meditation would be useful.” Bruce’s voice is serene and settling. He helps keep perspective. He was in Barcelona during the terror attack in 2017. He was 500 metres away in a virtual reality exhibition when it happened. A woman came in and shouted at everyone to take their headsets off quickly and ushered them to safety. Afterwards, Bruce watched news of the attack on TV.
“We were out and the city was still and sombre, but if you looked at what was on TV, you’d have sworn it was Armageddon. It taught me to filter.” For many, the anxiety of the Covid-19 change manifests physically. “Acknowledge an appropriate level of anxiety, but don’t let it take over. You can stop that by being mindful of your breath. Worrying about the future or the past has no benefit, it can be tinged with fear and regret. Bring yourself back to the here now.”
