In the same way that hair needs to be conditioned, so do our minds. My own hair is a perfect example: it’s fine and becomes easily tangled. I have to make a conscious effort to brush it and keep it conditioned, unless I want it to resemble a haystack!

We humans may have the most complex brains as a species, but our grey matter can betray us in many ways: we let our minds tell us stories that aren’t always true, we draw assumptions, we over-think. Somehow we seem to run a self-narrative which isn’t always healthy and is often based on external influence. It’s as though all the modern trappings of how we’re supposed to be living get tangled up in our heads, pull at our roots and make us feel inadequate.

But these aforementioned feelings will, for the majority, soon become obsolete! They will no longer be at the forefront of our thoughts. Our new restricted lifestyles, for those of us lucky enough to be in lockdown while the saintly medics and key workers combat the pandemic, provide many of us the rare opportunity to condition our minds and apply some conscious thinking.

Hopefully, when the effects of the pandemic subside, we will see radical changes in how society gels; we’ll have become used to falling out of fashion, not eating out, or caring about whether we have a holiday booked. Most of us will hopefully value our lives even more, against the tragedy of those who’ve lost theirs.

For so many reasons, we should mind our own business – or, I think, mind our own minds better.

As an exercise, jot down five things that mattered to you before the virus, and consider how relevant they are to you now. You’ll quickly see how much has shifted in your thought process, and how your priorities have changed too.

With this new awakening, you have the chance to condition your mind: to re-align your opinions and allow your intelligence to guide you, whilst letting go of the unimportant matters which cluttered your sights before.

Never has there been such a rare opportunity to grow as a race and re-condition our minds.