What we do matters even if it does not (or apparently does not) change the big picture.
I find contributing in some way helps me feel less despondent, even if that is because I have occupied my mind with positive action for as long as I am doing it.
I go out when I can to be present, to let those, like the Congresspeople trying to get into the Treasury Department to ask oversight questions, who are putting their safety on the line and dedicating more energy and talent than I am capable of to saving all of us, know that they have support, are appreciated, and are not alone. And I give them money and try to amplify their voices.
Every day, I invite myself to do one more thing.
Every day presents a new challenge and opportunity to be in and for community.
Remember to stretch.
January 6 is yet another day so historic it warrants reflection and impetus to action on every anniversary. (That might be resting, by the way, if you spend much of your temporal, energetic, and emotional resources in the efforts to make change and ward off evil.)
One of the yoga practices is exercising discrimination and acting with discernment (viveka) in response to changes in the world, the human collective, and ourselves. Discernment requires learning and admitting to the difficult truths and learning from experts and innovators.
Meditation, contemplation, reflection, and being present to oneself is all very nice, but without study and discriminative participation in the collective, it starts being more like spiritual bypassing than not.
What are your thoughts on this day? How does staying present to the reality of it make you feel? How are you balancing taking care of yourself and participating in shifting the narrative?
It seems somewhat fitting that DC has been crippled today by the first significant snow storm in quite some time.
I bumped into former neighbors on the street and one asked whether I was currently leading a regular, public yoga practice. I invited them to invite themselves over to my house to practice. This invitation goes to you, too.
It’s a good time to have practices to nourish us.
