New Year Mindfulness, a few moments of peace

Whew! What a time. On Friday I heard someone wish a Happy December 37th of 2020, with a promise that the New Year was still to come and would actually start next week. What’s happened in the first week of 2021 has felt too much like the heaviness and challenge that we are all exhausted from in 2020, and many folks are desperately hoping that 2021 will be different.

I wish you a peaceful and healthy new year – in your heart, in your relationships, in your families, in your community, on our planet, and I hope for healing for all.

I’ve spoken with many folks over the last week who feel many diff things as we have witnessed the storming of the Capitol, and the record-breaking ravages of covid-19.

People feel anxious, scared, disgusted, overwhelmed, loss, heart break, angry; and most painful- a sense of (re-)traumatization demonstrated by the flagrant white supremacist display of devaluing Black, Brown and Indigenous bodies, as it is clear that if it were our brothers and sisters of color doing the same thing, there would have been much more deadly force used against the rioters.

Additionally, people who believe the Capitol is a symbol of our democracy, feel it’s been entirely disrespected and disgraced, and this has raised much personal and global insecurity.

All of this on top of a terrible time of sickness and loss for many, given the relentless onslaught of covid and the required quarantining. Again, the intensity of this pandemic has most negatively and harshly overpowered Black, Indigenous and People of Color. How much more can we take?

I offer you, after this first week of the New Year, a ten minute guided mindfulness practice, to help make space available within you, for some peace, compassion, and stillness, as you take in and are touched by – in not so kind ways – the emotional and heartbreaking feelings of living through this time…Some help to stay grounded as you might notice yourself becoming reactive.

Please watch the video and join me for a few minutes of internal peace building.

May you be filled with loving kindness. May you be well in your body and in your mind. May you be safe from inner and outer dangers. May you be truly joyful and free.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to get a footing with all the feelings coming up, please call me for a therapy appointment. Or check out my free ‘De-Stress with Your Breath’ video guide for WOC. Take good care.