We resonate with one another’s sorrows because we are interconnected. Being whole and simultaneously part of a larger whole, we can change the world simply by changing ourselves. —Jon Kabat-Zinn
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Do you feel guilty that you’re living a normal life these days…post-Sandy?
Paralyzed with sadness, not sure where or what to give?
I’ve been feeling selfish for writing about anything other than the devastation.
Reset:
Frenzy, worry, and guilt isn’t helping any of those suffering.
In fact, it’s creating stress (inflammation) within the body. No good.
We usually think doing means active, but doing can be passive — and still be powerful, loving. A combination of the two? Golden.
Do what we can, actively. Where we have gifts, we can use them. Service men and women, emergency responders, fundraising and supporting shelters sending blankets, batteries, baby formula, diapers, etc…all so needed!
But we can help in other ways. Right now.
- Pray. However, whomever, whatever higher power you pray to, it helps. So does a mantra. Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu: May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.
- Meditate, Dedicate. In stillness and in motion. You don’t have to practice yoga or have any special props. Just try. Set aside a few minutes each day, just after you wake if you can. Dedicate your practice, whether it’s yoga, running, walking, working, parenting..your day. “If I become a center of love and kindness in this moment, then in a perhaps small but hardly insignificant way, the world now has a nucleus of love and kindness it lacked the moment before.” —Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Be aware. If you have children, help them understand the suffering and unrest. In your way and your time, teach about compassion for all beings. My recent m.o. of reminding my five-year old every time he has a tantrum probably isn’t the best way. But I bet you have some ideas, and I’d love to hear them. So touched by Jane Green’s Facebook page: ” I still love my adopted home, but to see man’s inhumanity to man, to read about people dumpster-diving for food in New York, guns being pulled at gas station, makes me fearful for the future. Every storm passes, and I can only pray this too shall pass, leaving room for a brighter, happier, sunnier day.” And Jonathan Fields‘ Post Sandy: Living In The Two New Yorks.
- Give something up. Live a little (or a lot) simpler, give away things you don’t need (especially blankets, warm coats, baby items), do a cleanse. Practicing purity or sauca, as Rolf Gates reminds us, is about practicing compassion and observing loving-kindness in thought.
