Rise above chaos and sink into calm.
Take a deep breath.
Now just let your breath be natural but pay attention to it for a few breaths. Continue with this until you feel your shoulders drop, your face soften, and your body settle into itself.
I mean it! Pause for a moment and do it right now. It won’t take long.
Ahh, ok. Now can you feel how you’ve brought yourself back into the here and now? In addition to feeling more tuned into your body, your emotions are calmer, your mind is a little clearer, and there’s a bit more space around your thoughts.
This is what we call grounding and centering. It’s something you can do throughout the day, perhaps when you’re waiting in line for something, or whenever you become aware that you’re feeling anxious, unsettled, or stressed.
Here are some more ways to heal from the empathic overload you may experience as it feels as if the whole world is holding its breath, waiting to see which direction things will go.
(Watch me talk about these self-care practices in the video, or read about them below.)
Self-Compassion
Try this scientifically-proven self-compassion practice from Dr. Kristin Neff.
Place your hand on your heart, or one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly. Actively send yourself love.
Look within and notice an area where you are suffering. Perhaps you’re preoccupied with work or worried about something you saw on the news. Acknowledge the suffering by saying to yourself, “This is a moment of suffering.”
Remember that every living being suffers. You’re not alone. Say to yourself, “Suffering is a part of life.”
Choose to be compassionate and kind toward yourself. Say to yourself, “May I be kind to myself in this moment. May I give myself the compassion I need.”
What Went Well Exercise
Here’s a quick and easy gratitude practice inspired by the work of Dr. Martin Seligman.
At the end of the day, or first thing in the morning, write down three things that went well the day before. They could be big or small, subtle or elaborate – a delicious latte, a laugh with a friend, or a promotion, or honestly anything else that you felt good about or enjoyed.
Then, for each one, briefly list two or three reasons you value this thing. Ask yourself, “Why do I define this as a blessing or a success? How did it help me, or why do I value it?”
Remember – Manipulation is Media’s Deal
It’s vital to remind yourself daily: we live in an attention economy.
Your attention is worth big bucks.
Media outlets are not just sharing information to be helpful. They’re spinning information to make you feel surprised, angry, or scared, because those are the feelings that will make you want to stick around and find out more.
Remembering this can help you step out of the manipulation and regain your agency.
When I want to find out what’s going on or read more about a news story I heard, I like to go to allsides.com. This is a site where they offer three articles per news story: one from the left, one from the right, and one from the center. In a world where you can never guarantee that an article is spin-free, at least you can avoid getting roped into one perspective before you have a chance to think for yourself.
Go Outside Daily without Your Phone
My dad has a really old, fluffy and adorable dog named Red, and even though he can’t see or hear very well anymore, he loves going for walks. So I take him out pretty much every day. And I leave my phone at home.
If you, too, can go for a walk most days – the dog is optional – it will have a hugely positive effect on your mood and your outlook on life.
In the modern world, it’s all too easy to get roped into the conflicts we see on our phones, believing that’s pretty much real world. When actually, the real world is the sidewalk. The real world is the birds singing. The real world is the trees.
A therapist might be out of the budget, but walking outside? It’s free. And it’s definitely therapy. It’s medicine for the modern world. But don’t take my word for it! Try it and you’ll see what I mean.
I have never voted before, I never felt the need to. But for the first time in my life I registered and voted today. I walked several miles on a drizzly muggy day. Exhausted but kept on walking. Afterwards I noticed an old historical building and in front was a giant brass bell with a plaque, the writing in Latin. I have passed by this place numerous times in my car. Today on the very day I cast my vote I was in awe at the symbolism of freedom and the past founding fathers. I said a prayer of gratitude to the founders and the freedoms we enjoyed. Last year august 4, 2023 during the Venus retrograde, lion’s gate, my heart chakra was blasted open. I suffered from being bombarded with prophetic visions that would come true in the days after and still continue to. I have kept my visions secret but only my sister and two friends know. One good thing to come out of this, is I am able to prepare and know how, where, why, and who was responsible for many events. Sometimes it can be hard to know when others are blissfully unaware.
Redhen, I love how many mindful practices you’ve integrated into your life! If you had to pick one practice that’s been most transformative for you, what would it be, and why?
To live life like it is a precious, magical gift from the divine. To love and feel so passionately that secret spark that beats our hearts, beauty that tantalizes and inspires. Even sadness, endings, loss, all part of the cycle of life. To live life meditively, to sense with all our senses the wonder that is our seasons of life. Everyday can be filled with reverence and love.💕
Love that, Redhen! How do you integrate reverence into your daily life? Is there a practice you do every morning or a specific ritual you find grounding?
My parents ingrained reverence and mindfulness into my life. They and my grandparents were my greatest teachers. My older sister also continues to amaze me with her faith in miracles and power of love. Meditation has been a big part of our lives. Belief in spirit and compassion has been taught since I was little. My mother used to say that too bad the practice of gratitude and noticing beauty in nature had been replaced by our modern hurried, busy , instant lifestyle. My dad always admired my mother’s kind, gentle, nurturing ways. Everything we did was considered magical. Reverence is simply feeling so deeply moved and seeing, feeling wonder and beauty in our everyday life. I was also taught to spiritually connect and view my world through that lens. Grounding it is physically is to find ways to make it tangible. Like exercise, feeling accomplished certain tasks, seeing beauty and synchronicities using all our senses, grounding in nature, writing poetry or stories, reading inspiring stories and truly feeling the energy of it. Cultivating reverence is a lifelong commitment of the promise to truely experience and participate in this winding road of life.
Beautiful, Redhen. Thank you for sharing. ❤️