We are all in this together.

I heard 2 incredible things this week that support this idea that we are so very connected to each other.

First, psychologist and emotions researcher Amit Goldenberg shared a powerful insight: when it comes to helping individuals manage reactive emotions, psycologists are approaching it backward. Instead of focusing on individual emotions, Goldenberg suggests we should examine collective emotions and suggests that’s where real change and regulation can happen.

His research shows that we rarely experience strong emotions on our own. Instead, emotions are amplified when shared within a group. In those collective settings, we often “activate” each other, leading to emotional cascades—where feelings snowball and grow stronger.

What does this mean for us and our contribution to society? For me, it clicked on a spiritual level: your individual state of mind and heart truly matters on a macro level. Each of us is either adding to positive energy in the world—or contributing to negative energy—and we’re all deeply influenced by the collective emotional states that we are surrounded by.

The yogis have been saying this for thousands of years: Be the change you want to see. They also say don't trust your mind.

The second profound thing came from my teacher. She was speaking about experiencing ourselves as part of the whole. Someone asked how to do that, and her answer was beautifully simple:
Focus on your finger. Notice it fully. But now, expand your awareness to include the rest of your body. You’re focusing on one part, yet you’re still aware of the whole. Your finger is just one small part of your whole body. You can hold both perspectives at the same time. (Go ahead, try it, it is a very cool experience!). 

In the same way, we can focus on our individual self (our finger) while remaining connected to the greater Self—the universe (our body). Non of us believe we are just a finger, we know our finger is part of something greater. What our finger does, or doesn't do, is going to affect the rest of the body.

Both of these concepts circle back to the yogic wisdom that we are not separate. What happens to you happens to me, and what happens to me happens to all. This isn’t just something to understand intellectually—it’s something we must know, deep in our being.

Getting to that place of knowing takes time, practice, and patience. But in the meantime, we can look for the moments when we already feel it:

• When we experience empathy for someone’s suffering.
• When we feel joy over someone victory.
  
  

We can also explore what blocks us from feeling that connection. It might seem like it’s just a lack of direct relationship or understanding, but don’t jump to conclusions too quickly. There might be more to it than that. We are after all encoded with the ignorance that tells us we are seperate, and we must protect our self-interest at all costs. This will show up differently for each individual, and for those of us who want to drop the veil of that ignorance, we need to see it each and every time it arises.

Now more than ever, we need to recognize that we’re all in this together. We’re all having ups and downs, joys and sufferings, and that is influencing the whole, just as we are being influenced by the collective. The more we see that, the less we can take it “personally.” In doing so, we reduce the pollution of individual identities and create space for collective harmony.