Don’t Lose Hope: Reflections on Ukraine and the World

When an enormous glacier breaks away and falls into the ocean due to the warming of our earth, many of us feel this is a tragic, violent act. When we see the deforestation of the keepers of our air, we can become overwhelmed by human greed.  Now, we juxtapose this with watching war, devastation, nations picking up arms to invade under the perception of being a savior, people picking up arms to defend and being willing to kill. How are we to find resolution in this world? It may be pithy to invite meditation, sound, and gentle movement as a solution. But it is the solution I am offering today.

We are watching millions of traumatized Ukrainian people carrying scars of fear—the uncertainty, sadness, and anger of which becomes extended to the children, and even babies in utero. We likely will not understand the full impact until many years down the road.

This lived and observed experience can leave us with feelings of disgust and nauseousness. This is normal.

However, hope is here. We know more about trauma now than ever before in our history. Trauma-informed therapists are being called in to support families and individuals in this massive exodus out of Ukraine.  We also have studies—such as this recent article—sharing how helpful it may be to use the tools of yoga to keep the trauma from overwhelming, overtaking, destroying and eradicating any possibility of hope.

Dialogue (whose literal, etymological meaning is “wisdom that moves through and with one another”) is what is so needed on our planet; especially dialogue between perceived “enemies.”

The role of meditation is to cultivate the space to engage in a relationship with inner wisdom through an intimate dialogue. The more we learn to have these conversations, the more we can have tools to engage with the ego-driven people that are often running our worlds, companies, and family systems. 

Yes, meditation makes a difference! Through its practice, we begin to lessen the burden of past hate, of belief systems that don’t work for us, and instead begin to consider a new way to engage with one another that is “different” than what has been patterned for us. We learn tools to take action, not from our ego protective-self, but from a space where the ego rests on the soft walls of the heart and lessens the hardening of our human story that believes oppression, power, weapons of destruction are needed to feel safe.

Here is a meditation to explore the softness of the heart and send to Ukraine the possibility for peace from your own deep well of serenity within.

 After this moment, intentionally live your lives with a consciousness that invites the possibility of equality, balance, harmony and peace.

It is absolutely possible.

 You don't have to act crazy anymore
by Hafiz 

You don’t have to act crazy anymore—
We all know you were good at that,

Now retire, my dear,
From all that hard work you do

Of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart.

Look in a clear mountain mirror
See the beautiful ancient warrior
And the divine elements
You always carry inside

That infused this universe with sacred life
So long ago