Skip to main content

A Meditation for Overwhelming Times

As one of my contributions to our collective effort to survive this time, I am periodically offering a free 10 minute guided meditation on my blog. 10 minutes because everyone can find 10 minutes in their day to do something that sustains you and increases your positive impact on the people around you. And because research shows that even 10 minutes of meditation can improve your brain functioning - and make you feel better.

There are dozens of meditation apps and sources out there. I don't claim mine is anything better than what you find could elsewhere. But two things might make your experience of these guided meditations unique. First, if you have attended any of the leadership retreats where I offer a mindfulness practice, you may find that listening to these guided meditations connects you to the retreat experience and allows you to renew the feelings of connectedness and power you had there. Second, many of my guided meditations will have a social justice element that connects to the issues our movement is focused on at the moment. 

This is an mp4 file. You should be able to double-click and the file will automatically run in whatever default media program you use. If you have difficulty downloading or running the file, leave me a note in the comments with your email address and we can try to figure it out together. 

This is a meditation to address emotional overwhelm, fatigue, feeling uncertain or unable to move forward. It will help you be in the moment, restore fatigue and find some inner quiet. It will remind you that you have everything you need and that you can restore yourself at any time by coming back to the breath.

If you find this meditation helpful, let me know in the comments please.

with love, solidarity and gratitude

A Meditation for Overwhelming Times

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Monday Sadness and Gratitude

I haven't posted in a few days because of the whirlwind of being back at work. But also because I've had the blues. I didn't notice the blues at first because of the whirlwind. There's flying to DC. Missing out on sleep because of how my commute works. Being in this building one block from the white house. Arriving on Tuesday with nothing on my calendar and then by Friday seeing every minute filled with meetings and projects. And every day, every single day, engaging with the reality of what is happening. I've been in meetings where people talked about the federal legislative plan for January and how we will participate. I've been in meetings where we talked about what is happening at the state level. It is all so much to take in.  Aside - people who are know how bad for working people is the Trump victory may not realize how much ground we also lost in many of the states. Which means that alongside every federal action, we will see a raft of state actions tha...

On Fear, Purpose and Clarity

In the aftermath of the election, I started rereading the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is one of the fundamental books for the philosophy of yoga and the hindu religion. But you don’t have to practice yoga or become a hindu devotee to see its applicability to our current moment. The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between two characters – Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna is a young warrior who is compelled to go into a just war against neighbors, friends and relatives to combat unjust rule. Right before the battle begins, he is overcome with fear, sadness, reluctance and sits down on the battlefield, unable to go on. God – Krishna - appears to him in the form of his chariot driver and they commence a discussion about the importance of fighting an injustice and doing one’s duty. In the course of the dialogue, Krishna lays out the basic principles of living a good life, and entering into the moment with courage, leaving fears behind. I’ve read this book in the past, but typica...

Yoga Is The Path of Action; What Action Will You Take?

Yoga is the path of action. The yoga sutras are very clear about that – there are many paths to enlightenment but the path we tread is a path of action. We seek the realization of the self and divinity through discipline, study and devotion. Every part of that is important – we have to be diligent and disciplined to overcome any obstacles. We have to study to understand what is happening and be able to see where we go wrong and how to correct it. And we do it with love and devotion because it is a not a self-interested path even though it is about transcending our own suffering. I’m saying all of this because right now is the time for action out in the world. Yoga gives us a lot of tools for personal transformation, but I also believe it tells us something about transforming our world, changing systems, realizing justice. I haven’t quite connected all the dots to explain why and how it does that, but that is part of why I’m writing this blog – to have a space to figure it ...