Fr Constantine, the parish priest at St Matthew's Anglican Church, spoke about meditation and prayer as an important practice for everyone, not only religious people, during a Compassionate Ballarat webinar on Wednesday.

The public presentation was part of a weekly webinar series that provides practical advice and support to residents during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Just as we care for ourselves physically, gradually as a society we are understanding how important our mental well-being is," Father Constantine said.

"We all struggle mentally and it is good to see all the taboos are falling when it comes to mental illness.

"We still have a long way to go in caring for each other, but I think when we are done with improving our mental well-being the next stage in our evolution will be really caring for our spiritual well-being."

Father Constantine said the spirit or 'inner world' could be cared for through silence, solitude and prayer.

This can be achieved through simple tasks including making time to switch off from technology by making intentional decisions like leaving your phone at home when going for a walk.

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Father Constantine recommends 30 minutes of physical exercise and 30 minutes of meditation or prayer daily to establish a holistic health routine.

"When we care for ourselves spiritually we develop a heightened awareness of our interconnectedness and it helps us accept our vulnerability. It would be a more compassionate world if we all accepted each other's vulnerability," he said.

"Spiritual care enables you to 'sing your song', self-acceptance and proper self-love. It reduces the tendency to always compare ourselves with others or to want to be like others.

"The more we connect with ourselves spiritually, the more we build community, have less competition, more compassion, more humanity and a more peaceful, kind and ecologically aware and compassionate world.

"Isn't that what we are want and what we are learning during this time of COVID-19 chaos?"

Father Constantine said we should move forward with valuable learnings from COVID-19; that what really matters is family, relationships, community and love.

"We have seen how an economy that does not put the human being at the centre is not worth it," he said.

"One thing we can learn is to put human beings at the centre of policy and economy and everything we are doing, not our selfish interests."

Father Constantine migrated from Nigeria to Australia in 2003. He was instrumental in the creation of the One Humanity Shower Bus in Ballarat and is also prison chaplain at Langi Kal Kal prison.

"We have two sayings in Africa; 'we are human together' and 'when the toe is hurting, the whole body bends down to look after it'," he said.

"I see that as what has happened in our society now. We must learn ways to care for our toes."

In speaking about the establishment of the shower bus, Father Constantine cited Mary MacKillop's words; 'never see a need without doing something about it'.

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