Whole-Self-Care in the Election Season
We are entering election season…counting down 52 days. When I think about the tense times in which we find ourselves, I think about my sangha, especially the teachers. How will we navigate the minefield of division and conflict that permeates our world? How do we stay clear and not fall prey to this lethal game? How can we wage peace when everyone around us is waging war?
What will I lean on? My sadhana.
Sadhana is a Sanskrit word. Sad is a version of sat (truth). A sadhana is your personal practice that supports you in the pursuit of truth—truth that is based on love, unity. and the opposite of separation. Committing to your sadhana is a call to action to show up for yourself, because the reality is that no one else will.
This is why I encourage you to take a proactive, preventative stance—because we all know what’s ahead in this “land of the free and home of the brave,” and it’s up to us to prepare wisely to meet whatever shows up in our path in these next few months.
As with any meaningful practice, it all begins with some simple inquiry and observation of the present moment. Have you shown up for yourself today? Did you walk your way into the well of peace and soak in its waters to absorb its frequency, even for just two minutes? Or did you walk your way into that bottle of wine because you felt you needed to decompress? Or perhaps taking a quick puff has felt like the easier way to find peace.
What will you lean on today? What new choices will you make to show up for your long-term health and well-being?
I know that times like these can make us feel shaky and uncertain, which can often result in our leaning into some unhealthy habits. So I encourage you to step into mindful, heartful awareness, and to direct loving kindness toward yourself in this stressful time.
Each season calls us to consider new habits. As the fall and winter roll in, we begin to pull out the boots, add layers, and turn to our warming stews and soups. With the emergence of spring, we take off the winter jacket and start to see our toes once again through our sandals. We crave fruits and look forward to the bounty of the Earth to rise and grow.
Although election season isn’t tuned to the natural cycles of our lives and our planet, it operates in much the same way as a regular season. Notice what might be getting stirred and ignited in you. Normally, we start to take a side or engage in debate with the person who calls or texts us, or who posts on social media. Our passion rises, and we respond to it in a variety of ways: Maybe we decide to volunteer in our system of voting. Or perhaps we pull back, retreat to our cave, and wait for election season to end.
No matter whether you fervently participate, withdraw from society, or reluctantly pull yourself back to vote, we will all be affected in some way. Physiologically, there will be an imprint.
The American Psychological Association reported, “A year before the 2020 presidential election, Americans report various issues in the news as significant sources of stress, including health care, mass shootings and the election itself, according to a new Stress in America™ survey by APA. More than half of U.S. adults (56%) identify the 2020 presidential election as a significant stressor, an increase from the 52% of adults who reported the presidential election as a significant source of stress when asked in the months leading up to the 2016 contest.”
The anticipation of stress around an upcoming event is the fertilizer that grows weeds of agitation in the nervous system. The rise of anxiety during this time is staggering. This anxiety at least indirectly has to do with our sense of safety. There is an aspect of our nervous system that assesses safety and it is based on our physiology. Without our needing to even be aware, our nervous system is picking up cues (shifts in breath, immobilization of the body, appetite suppression, hypervigilance) and then concluding: “Yes, I feel safe,” or “No I do not feel safe.”
In a recent interview, Dr. Stephen Porges speaks about our need to co-regulate with another. During a time when we are being told to be physically distant, not gather in groups, or to minimize our activities, we need to be thoughtful about how we are being supported and how we are supporting one another to get back to an optimal state of safety and a sense of hopefulness.
I recommend the following six approaches to whole self-care and coming back to a supportive sadhana during this turbulent election season:
Sound: Engage with a melodic, soothing, and calming sound every day; for example, speaking with a friend whose voice soothes you and/or also activating your own soothing melodic tone (think of how you would talk to your pet).
Movement: Try a daily psoas release. Unconsciously holding tension in this part of your body can affect your digestive/elimination system.
Hydration: Up to 60% of the adult human body is made of water. Keep energy flowing by drinking half your body weight in ounces of fresh water (for example, if you weigh 120 lbs., drink 60 oz. of water).
Daily breathwork: This doesn’t have to take too much time or thought. Develop your resiliency by lengthening your exhale!
Community: What are your passions? Direct them to a cause you love. Create or join a group that is doing good in your community!
Get creative: Make something—it could be a cake, your own songs, or pretty notecards that you send out to friends. Exercising your creativity can be an uplifting way to get through election season with your sanity intact!
What will you lean on today? I hope it will be something that brings you to the deep well of peace, even if it’s just for 30 seconds.
May you look inward and see peace looking right back at you. Waiting for you, like an old friend.
Sadhana, my great companion
Standing at the edge
So exhausted
Whilst
Ready to take a leap
I am done
I have seen enough treachery
Yet I know I will see more
I am certain
Sinuous strings weave a facade of mesmerizing patterns
Only to later be recognized as a chaotic cacophony of nothingness
Ready to take a leap
And try to make sense of the inhumanness of humanity
My sadhana is now only to sustain
My human-ness
Divinity will have to wait for our species
We have a long way to go
The center space of peace
Is becoming extinct
We have become the mass weapons of destruction
My sadhana is now only to sustain
My human-ness
Kind
Compassionate
Simple
Sublime
***
If you’re interested in having a dedicated community of people to practice caring for your whole self with, consider joining me for my new 10-week class, Life School for the Whole Self, which begins September 20.
I created this course to walk you, step by step, through your own vital inquiry into whole-self-care. My course covers the five dimensions of the self according to yoga in depth—and it offers information you won’t find anywhere else about how you can work to nourish each dimension so that you can experience greater peace, joy, and wellness. And ultimately, so that you can reclaim your nervous system from the many systems and distractions that may serve to disconnect you from your wholeness!