Economic uncertainty.
Excessive corporate power and greed impacting every segment of our world.
Obscene amounts of money in the hands of a few, while most struggle to make ends meet.
Global Warming and the resulting natural disasters.
Job losses.
An unaffordable and broken health care system.
The war and suffering in Gaza.
The targeting and suffering of marginalized groups, such as immigrants, the transgender community and women.
Children starving and dying due to lack of US aide.
Our Democracy turning into an Autocracy right before our eyes.
Saying we are living in troubled times is an understatement. It is normal for you to feel anxious, overwhelmed, helpless, hopeless, cynical, deeply sad, angry and so much more. I feel all of that, along with a pit in my stomach, just reading the news. So, a question that’s been on my mind a lot lately as I struggle through and try to support my clients through this mess…
“How do we find peace while navigating this very difficult time in history?”
I’m not going to pretend I have the definitive answer…I don’t think anyone can be sure of anything right now. But what I can share is what has been helpful to me in finding, creating and holding on to peace during challenging times.
Meditation in general has been a life saver for me. And one of my favorite meditation tools, taught by one of my favorite teachers, Tara Brach, PhD, is RAIN.
RAIN stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate and Nurture. This is a process in which we:
- Stop and tune inward to identify our feelings (Recognize)
- Give ourselves permission to fully feel whatever emotions we identify (Allow)
- Explore these emotions within our body with curiosity and without judgment; you can ask yourself, where are the emotions located, how do they feel, what color or size are the emotions (Investigate)
- Finally, ask yourself what it is your heart, your minds, your body and your souls need (Nurture)
It is a simple, but very powerful tool. You can learn more about how to use RAIN in Tara’s book; “Radical Compassion”.
Find and use mental health tools and resources:
- Tara Brach’s podcast is full of gentle Buddhist wisdom, guided meditations and healing readings and stories
- Tara has several books including, “True Refuge” and “Radical Acceptance”
- Tara and Jack Kornfield have two excellent 40-day classes on the app “Insight Timer”.
- “Mindfulness Daily”
- “Mindfulness Daily at Work”.
- Insight Timer, by the way, is another excellent resource, a free app I highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about meditation or starting a meditation practice.
Make a plan:
Often, in times of great uncertainty, when the rug is pulled out from under you, the best remedy can be creating a plan of action, with structure and consistency. While the world spins out of control, an action plan can help you feel a bit more grounded. As you take control of what you can in your own life, you can begin to cultivate and feel more peace within.
So, whether it’s exploring meditation with the resources above, getting the support of a counselor, connecting with good friends, ensuring adequate sleep or moving your body each day with yoga or walking, find what nurtures you and do that regularly. Create a self-care plan and stick to it as best you can. Self-care is NOT optional right now, but critical. Only by creating peace within our own hearts, can we rise up together and create the world we all hope to live in.
I will be holding fast with you my friends, in solidarity; working to create peace and love within, so collectively we can take action to send peace and love out into this troubled world.
