by Carey Wedler, Activist Post:
If you find yourself caught in a cycle of reactivity and hopelessness, here are some suggestions to help soothe your mind, heart, and soul.
(Carey Wedler) There are countless reasons to be stressed, angry, fearful, and all-around disheartened about the world and political systems that rule over it. Feeling this way is understandable and a healthy response to a dysfunctional, corrupted paradigm.
However, many who recognize the system’s failings and injustices—myself included—often become fixated on a seemingly endless stream of negativity. If you find yourself caught in a cycle of reactivity and hopelessness (and even if you don’t), here are some suggestions to help soothe your mind, heart, and soul:
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1) Return to Nature
This may seem obvious, but sadly, many humans are detached from nature. Spending time in nature, whether to exercise, camp, meditate, garden, or simply be is deeply soothing. The realities of modern life tend to disconnect us from our natural rhythms—rhythms inextricably linked to those of the earth. Disconnecting from the constant barrage of information and dysregulating screen time to reconnect with nature is verifiably good for your health and well-being. If more people could reunite and ground with nature, the world would likely have a better chance at peace and harmony.
2) Soaking
In his book Hardwiring Happiness, Dr. Rick Hanson explains that due to the brain’s built-in negativity bias, it’s easy to fixate on unpleasant and upsetting information—whether in your life or the world. “Soaking” consists of consciously focusing your attention on something enjoyable in your present-moment reality (nature is a great place to do this!). While the news and daily life may be constant sources of stress, countless things in anyone’s day can bring joy—no matter how small and no matter how upset or tense you may feel.
Hanson writes that the focus of a soak can be simple—the comfort of a cushion you may be sitting on; a cool breeze while walking outside; a blooming flower or light shining through the leaves of a tree; the sound of a loved one’s voice; or the taste of a good meal or drink. Simply bringing your attention to these little delights and “soaking” in how it feels in your body reorients your brain to notice more experiences like it. This can help shift your overall life experience toward one of contentment, joy, and peace. It can even be done when you’re feeling down; in fact, that’s an ideal time to do it.
Each “soak” can be as short as about ten seconds. This can be done a handful of times throughout the day, though longer and more frequent soaking sessions are beneficial. This practice is an effective and easy way to shift perceptions by rewiring neural pathways toward positivity. The more you consciously do it, the more it happens unconsciously, as well. More comprehensive and intensive programs rooted in neuroplasticity and neuroscience can also be highly effective in easing stress and anxiety as well as chronic illness that stems from stress-based dysregulation.
3) Yoga
While the Western world tends to view yoga as a form of fitness, it is a much deeper, holistic system of practices rooted in self-actualization and inquiry, community, and spirituality. These practices include breathwork, singing and chanting, meditation, philosophy, and physical postures. Taken as a complete discipline, it is unsurprising that yoga is shown to foster physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
In the realm of physical yoga, there are many varieties, and most don’t require fancy arm balances. One of the best-known styles is “power” or “vinyasa” yoga, which is exceptional for building muscle and flexibility without damaging the body. Yin yoga helps release gripped fascia deep in the body and commands presence (often because tension in the body can be shockingly intense when you get into it). With deep stretching comes deep release and relief—as long as you respect your body’s limits and don’t force or jam yourself into a pose. If vinyasa and yin sound too intense, restorative yoga is a gentler option. It uses props like blocks and blankets to support your body, allowing for opening and release with less active effort. These classes and others can be done in person at yoga studios near you, which helps foster a sense of community. There are also many options online, both free and paid.
*A note for those who think they can’t do yoga because they’re not flexible: flexibility is not a requirement for yoga—it’s often a byproduct of it.
4) Meditation
Yoga can be meditative, and meditation is one part of the broader yogic system. While yogic meditations are a great practice to explore, other traditions of meditation abound. They include Buddhist meditation and secular styles that simply focus on stress reduction. Just as yoga is helpful for people who think they aren’t flexible, meditation is helpful for people who feel they can’t quiet their minds (and anyone else).
There is a wide variety of styles, from simple breath awareness and body scan (a yogic version of this is yoga nidra) to vipassana and loving-kindness, which helps practitioners extend compassion to themselves and the world and all of its sentient beings. It’s not always easy to drop into a quiet mind, but that is not really the goal. Rather, meditation helps bring mindful awareness to your experience. Sometimes that means simply observing that your mind is running wild and your body is physically tense or agitated—and meeting it with compassion rather than judgment. Over time, this focused awareness leads to sustained calm and well-being. Great resources for meditation include Insight Timer, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program.
5) Volunteer
As helpful and vital as it is to go inward, it can also be powerful to go outward. Considering how dependent people have become on government for social services and assistance, now is a great time to dedicate energy and effort to helping your community if you are in a position to do so.
