Borough President Leads Meditation Class For Anxious New Yorkers

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — He has encouraged Brooklynites to visit an emergency hospital tent, joined doctors' calls for more telemedicine and backed an eviction ban amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

Now, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams wants New Yorkers who feel anxious about COVID-19 to find inner peace.

On Tuesday, Adams posted a guided meditation on his office's YouTube channel.

Clad in a t-shirt emblazoned with "Mind" in all-caps, Adams said he begins and ends every day with 20 minutes of meditation. He said it's a "tremendous tool" that has helped him stay grounded, measured and clear in his thinking during the outbreak.

"While I know that we will be able to stand together soon, as soon as it is safe to, the reality is that right now we are all experiencing a very real anxiety," he said. "I've said it many times and I will say it now: meditation can help combat this."

To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in Brooklyn, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.

Adams introduced his friend Jon Aaron, who said he teaches mindfulness meditation. The practice of meditation helps people look toward what is and what's happening in the moment with an openness and acceptance, he said.

"Whether we're feeling anxious or scared, whether we're feeling angry, whether we're feeling isolated, whatever our feeling is when we turn toward it with an openheartedness it allows us to be with this in a very different way," Aaron said.

They then launched into a meditation session with long stretches of silence, sometimes broken by Aaron's subtle instructions.

Adams closed the video by saying people don't need to go to a mountaintop to meditate. It's simply finding a moment to check-in and be fully present with your surroundings, he said.

"My hope is that New Yorkers – those who have practiced meditation and those who may feel like they don't know how to meditate – will join us today," Adams wrote in a statement. "While we may be feeling isolated socially by our physical separation, we can still come together spiritually through meditation and unity."

Adams is no stranger to approaches that some consider unorthodox. Last year, he unveiled new rat traps that drowned the rodents in alcohol — and forcefully defended them against an animal rights outcry.

Coronavirus in NYC: What's Happened and What You Need To Know