The power of your peaceful mind in the face of insanity.

I saw a woman in a store ​wearing​ a t-shirt on that said "forgive me for when I said when I was hungry." I really loved that shirt because there are many times I act in ways that I regret when my blood sugar is low. When I am hangry, I am not peaceful.
 
Of course as a yoga instructor I'm going to tout the importance of self-care when it comes to maintaining our ability to project a peaceful environment.
We can't ignore that what we're putting in our body at every level has an effect on this environment.  For example, ​the​ kind of TV and movies are we watching, what are we reading, how much grim news are we taking in, what kind of company are we keeping​ all have an impact.​ The sources of the food we are ingesting is going to make a difference as well. For example the commercial meat industry is more violent than small farm raised meat and so will hold a different vibration. Highly processed foods or food that is created or harvested by immoral measures will also hold a negative vibration, all of which is will have an impact on our ability to remain peaceful.

A few weeks ago I read a story about a coach of a under 13-year-old baseball league who ​was ​ejected from the game by the umpire for using foul language. The coach decided to punch him in the face before he left the feild and broke the umpires jaw in 2 places in front of all the spectators. Just as horrifying is that some of the parents of the kids in that coach's team yelled "he deserved it" as the umpire was being attended to by the EMTs. It's no surprise that between the pandemic and the many other tensions in the world people are not behaving as calmly as they once were. The evidence is all over the place as we witness mass shootings, war, increased gun deaths and violent crimes all across the world. 

It is difficult to not become part of the collective consciousness of violence and unrest. We know mob mentality is a real and powerful thing.  A negative collective energy can influence the individual who is not grounded in their sense of self.  Perhaps even the most doubtful can acknowledge that these "energies" influence us by recognizing that when in a peaceful place ​we ​feel peaceful, and when not in a peaceful place​, we​ don't feel peaceful. Pretty simple.

What can we do to counteract, or to pull against the effects of a negative, violent collective consciousness? Just like in tug of war, if you want to win the game you have to pull back as hard as the other team is pulling. Otherwise, you're going be pulled to the other teams side and loose. In these days of unrest and insanity we have to intentionally, with great effort, pull ourselves towards peace. If we want to make a difference in this new, and hopefully temporary, world order, we need to exert as much effort towards peace as we ​understand that energies are pulling us towards non-peace. We can't just state that we're fine, things are okay, and have it be so. Those days are over, if they even ever existed.

If you think it doesn't matter ​to the rest of the world ​what headspace you are in, think again. Imagine the ripple effect that this angry coach (a man who most likely was admired by his young team) that hit the umpire created. This happened in a playing feild filled with children who were either horrified by what they saw (maybe traumatized) or given permission to act violently against a decision that they may disagree with in the future. Then this became a news story. Now I'm sharing it with you. The EMTs, doctors and nurses who attended to the umpire were affected. ​What about the extended families of the coach​ and umpire, and the people they work with? The court case means more people will know about it and now this crazy thing has touched so many more people than just the man who was hit. 
 
 Just because we don't see the ripple effects and how its moves out into the future doesn't mean it won't happen. We can't think our energy is not influencing someone when we step into a room ​cranky, ​or when we present work that will somehow make its way out into the public. What about what you are posting on social media? What are you saying in front of your children and colleagues? If we agree that this ripple effect is true and valid, why not use it to create ​a ​peac​ful calm environment​? "I didn't mean to do that" should only be acceptable a few times. So that t-shirt I mentioned in the beginning of this post would only buy me one or two missteps. After that I should be willing to recognize that I was not self-aware enough to make sure my energy d​id ​not harm others.


We can and should contribute time and money to uplift our neighbors who have less and use our votes and voices so that our social structures offer real support.  This doesn't always work as we might have hoped​, and​ we have seen time and ​time ​again.   The only ​way​ we can make a lasting positive change towards peace is in ​by creating it ​our own minds​ first​.  So, let's get to work and clean up our vibrational fields while we are doing everything else we are doing.  Remember in this game of tug of war we have to pull the rope as hard and strong, and continuously, towards peace as we can.  

If you are interested in doing this work together, join me for the meditation intensive that is starting July 5th.  More info can be found here​