It has been incredibly challenging for me personally to stay mindful during the current times in the United States. I, like many others, can get caught up in the fear of uncertainty, fear of what may happen and that can feel so debilitating. The constant flood of news and chaos of confusing orders can be hard to navigate through without being pulled under the weight of it all.

Shifting our energy away from panic and into action will be the most helpful for us all. What do we have control over at this moment? Shift the focus from the bad, the “what if’s” and place your energy into making helpful plans and actions centered around community and love. Connect locally with the people in your neighborhood. See where you can help fill in the gaps with food scarcity and other ways to aid the people who live and work in your community. This is needed more than ever.
As we all continue to do the best we can with our emotional regulation, with connecting with each other, with letting the storms that have built settle within. These are the things that we can control. As things continue to change, allow yourself to flow and shift as needed. Take time and space for yourself to recharge, to calibrate your heart and your mind. These are the times when we will need ourselves the most, because when we tend to ourselves with love, we are able to do that for others as well.
I have been spending more time simply coming back to my breath, reminding myself that I am okay. I have been sending more time in loving-kindness meditation, sending that love outward as far as I can. Sometimes the best thing I can do for my own anger and outrage is to invite the opposite energy, the energy of mindfulness in to be with it. This helps to dissipate the intensity of the feeling and I can come back to state of ease again. When I invite the energy of love and compassion in, the anger and hate cannot exist with them for long. Each time those feelings arise, I invite you to ask the energy of mindfulness, of equanimity, of love to also enter.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love..”
I am working on holding more community spaces like meditations, yoga and more. I am also adjusting some of the pricing to reflect a donation based system for most of the events going forward in March.
We are in this together and we need each other now more than ever. There will be a new online course this week for riding the waves of emotions that touches more in depth about emotional regulation and continuing your path of self-work as the world unfolds as it is. What we all need now, more than ever, is extending loving-kindness.
To ourselves and to everyone around us.
With Metta,
Jess
Jess, I am so glad I opened this email. I really needed to be reminded of these things. Everything is so heavy right now. Thank you for being such a beautiful, much needed guiding light . Many blessings to you and your loved ones.