We have been through a rough couple of weeks. There is tension, disease, distrust, defensiveness and despair in the human energetic realm. Can you feel it? 

I wake up in the morning feeling heavy sadness or hot anger. I know it’s not me, i.e., nothing is going on in my personal life to warrant such intense emotions. I believe people are struggling, suffering, and dying in such massive numbers that we can feel it when we pause to notice or just before we wake. It is humanity's cry for help. 

It is the wars, economic inequality, powerlessness, violent weather, mass murder, racial injustice, political polarization, loss of personal choice, surveillance, species extermination, homelessness, suicide, and the residual effects of the 4 years of isolation during the pandemic.  

I am doing a workshop next Friday at 4 pm PDT about Global Grief. Reply to this email if you want the link.

What I want to talk about today is choice. We can choose to suffer and complain or do something about it. When we do nothing, we suffer. It’s part of being human, our compassion not only to empathize but to feel the suffering of others. What can we do? What can one person do?

First, we must shift from the animal defense mode of fight, flee, or freeze. Only then will we be able to access our intelligence, creativity, and spirit. The best way I know to achieve that shift is to meditate. Only through meditation can we access other parts of our brain and discover the right action. Deep breathing and slow movement relax the tension in the body and return focus to the present moment. In the present moment, there is peace. Everything stops. wisdom is available.

We also can benefit from seeking community. Humans are a social species and do best in groups. How many of you have returned to the level of socializing you did before the pandemic? I haven’t. I am out of practice. I get overwhelmed and exhausted when I'm around a lot of people.

We need connection with others to thrive. Zoom is only a stopgap. We need flesh and blood and the exchange of microbes. It’s true. When you don’t intermix with other humans, you feel less safe, less trust, and less capable. Lack of community lowers your immune system because the immune system needs to be exercised like your muscles. Otherwise, it gets flabby.

My eldest sister became sick after seeing my other sister and her son. They weren’t even sick when she saw them, not for 3 weeks. It’s to be expected. After 4 years of isolation, my sister’s immune system is weak. I told her to get out of her apartment more. She will exercise her muscles too. 

Doesn't it make you wonder about the long-term effects of the pandemic on our psyche? Just look around and you can see signs of its social aftermath everywhere.

Yes, sometimes groups will devolve into fighting and antagonism. I am sure there’s a lot of pent-up frustration. That’s why we need meditation.

Meditation not only helps us individually, it helps everyone in the world. It transforms the energy of despair permeating the space by promoting peace and healing. 

Want to help the world? Start with meditation.

My next moving meditation class is tomorrow, Tuesday, May 28 at 10:30 am PDT. I also teach on Sundays at 8 am PDT.

The Zoom link is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89999494833?pwd=V2pOS28yYUdXM3hkaW1rVWIvSjBUdz09

Meeting ID: 899 9949 4833

Passcode: SUFI

Here's a time converter link to check the time in your location.

Can we do more than meditate? Probably. However, it’s a good place to start. Meditation connects you with peace, intelligence, and spirit.

Do it for yourself. Do it for the world. Take that a step toward universal healing. Then figure out what else you can do.

Be connected. 

Michelle

Dr. Michelle Peticolas

Life Transformation Coach

Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss

Secrets of Life and Death

https://www.facebook.com/secretsoflifeanddeath.com