World of Peace, Justice, and Harmony
Resmaa Menakem, in The Quaking of America, asks us to notice what we experience in our body as we read these words aloud (repeat each three times). Last week’s blog:
“I live in a time of great peril and great possibility.
I do not and cannot know what will emerge.
As the future unfolds, I will act from the best parts of myself.”
I have repeated these phrases many times in the last few weeks, sitting with the power of knowing, acceptance and intention. We may feel despair and we are not helpless in these challenging times. It is important what we do now and next.
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I found out this week that I have Covid. It helps to know why I’ve been feeling sick with a lingering “bad cold” and recurring digestive issues this month. I am thankful that the virus has mutated to a much less dangerous form.
Seeing the line on the test brought up a lot of feelings. Grief for such loss of health and life from Covid over the last four years. Fear, but not so much for my health now. It is more of a remembered fear of the spring of 2020 when I was alone and scared. We didn’t know how it was spread. We knew millions of people were dying.
People had a lot of strong feelings and opinions about what was happening and what to do. There was increasing scorn, shaming and polarization about “the other side”. People were deeply divided within families, friendships and communities. Fear and our nervous systems were running the show and it was hard to “act from the best parts of myself”. Our situation now has some similar elements.
Last week, we did a somatic inquiry into “What Are You Carrying?”. Listen here on Insight Timer. I’ve been doing more Insight Timer Lives this month and deeply appreciating being able to connect with community. We are not alone. It helps to know what is happening in our nervous system and to practice powerful tools to regulate and build strength and resilience.
“We are at a time of great peril and great possibility”. It matters what we do now.
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In Sherri Mitchell’s beautiful book Sacred Instructions, she brings forward a way of looking at how we are spending our time and energy, what we are focused on, and how to shift our energy to change the world.
The 80-10-10 Rule
10% looking at what needs to be changed - we can’t create change if we are unwilling to look at the things that need changing.
10% holding back the tide of harm that’s been created by our previous acts, and to limit to 10% the mental, emotional and energetic investment we make in images of harm.
80% creating a reality that offers safety, compassion, equality, justice and sustainability for all life.
Sherri has a deep understanding of and experience with energy, consciousness and social change. The subtitle of Sacred Instructions is Indigenous Wisdom For Living Spirit-Based Change.
10% to being present with what is. Extremes like we’re seeing now make it hard to hide reality. We do need to see clearly to know what patterns are in play and what needs changing. We don’t need to spend 80% of our time figuring out exactly what is going wrong. We know enough. Limit exposure to alarming messages on news and social media that activate hypervigilance and fear.
10% awareness of and mitigating harm. Depending on our circumstances and resources, this may include donating time and money in our community, lowering our carbon footprint, opening our heart in friendship, and practicing compassion with ourselves and others.
Knowing and feeling into the harm we have contributed to through our privilege and unconscious behavior is heavy and uncomfortable. I have a lot of feelings as a white person reading the results of who voted for Trump.
Part of my middle-class white privilege is a lifetime of experience that the government and our institutions, like police, are here to support and help me. That privilege does not hold true for me as a woman and a queer activist, and my white privilege protects me in some important ways.
The scope and harm of colonization, white privilege and racism is part of what has landed so hard after the US election. AND I remind myself 10% seeing and 10% focus and harm reduction.
In the mid nineties, after 15 years of activism, I needed a rest. Part of the problem was that “fighting against” has a way of taking over. We can get so absorbed in what is wrong that it’s hard to come up for air. We had a sense of the kind of world we wanted to live in and help create and shape. Building that world was not where most of our energy was going, and I was burnt out.
80% The World We Want To Live In
From Sacred Instructions:
We’re in the midst of another evolutionary shift: one that requires us to expand our awareness, to recognize the truth of our interconnectedness, and then to understand how our thoughts, words, and actions impact the entire creation. We have been conditioned to believe that achieving success for oneself provided the greatest degree of personal security. We’ve lost our alignment of our success being tied to the success of the whole.
Any thought or idea that enters our energy field comes in through an existing pattern.
The best way to shift an existing pattern is to enter into its natural flow and slowly shift it from within.
Every current that enters into the flow has an impact on the overall pattern.
Each new evolutionary pattern is subtly introduced into our stream of consciousness so we can flow with it gently and become accustomed to its rhythms.
We can collectively imagine and work together to bring a more peaceful, just, and harmonious world into being.
The challenges we face in our lives require us to show up as our best selves, guided by heart-based wisdom. In this truth, we will find the answers that have eluded us. We will find our way back to one another and back to a place of harmony with the world around us.
What does the world look like that you want to live in?
What strengths can you build on and what subtle shifts might you introduce? Somatic mindfulness lets us notice when we contract muscles and hold our breath, and to enjoy opening our lungs to fresh air and our hearts to compassion and kindness.
Present moment awareness reminds us that we care about and have been engaged with social justice for a long time. We have community.
Grounding and centering in our nervous system is an essential foundation for truly resting and building strength, resilience and agency. Join us every day at 8AM Eastern for a live guided practice. Join guided practices and courses and Insight Timer Live several times a week.
Join us weekly in our Sunday free community class. This week we’re exploring 80-10-10.