REACT WITH FEAR OR RESPOND WITH LOVE?

Last week I spoke to my yoga students about brahmacharya - a philosophical underpinning of the hatha yoga path that identifies guidelines we can follow to support us on our journey to freedom. Brahmacharya, in its simplest definition, means ‘non-excess’.

A few weeks ago there was enough for everyone. Yet in this hysteria and fear-induced panic, self-fulfilment from a place of egoism (that sense if ‘I’ that separates you from me) has completely wiped our judgement and triggered a collective state of greed (excess). Taking more than what we need to fulfil the irrational stories in our mind we’ve completely lost sight of the bigger sense of community and collectiveness that caused this global crisis in the first place. In taking more than what we need, we’ve left others without enough. Some without anything at all.

Where has the humanity gone?

Beneath the hysteria and panic buying is an underlying emotion – fear. The greed is a reactive symptom of the fear we’re feeling in our bodies. And when the body doesn’t feel safe we disconnect from it and land in the mind which takes us down the rabbit hole of restless and mindless disruption. We are being forced to face the reality of global connectedness (the world is much smaller than it used to be) and we’re being forced to face our own mortality. Some have already faced that reality and it’s scary to think that someone we know might fall victim to this invisible virus. But many of us who are reacting to the fear don’t have any need for such reactive measures. Unless we are currently ill, have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, or have the virus, we are projecting fear onto something that does not exist in our personal reality. But are acting like it is. Your thoughts matter. They change the vibration in your cells. The change the collective vibration of the world.

I’ve had many conversations with people who are not personally fearful of the virus, yet their anxiety has been triggered by this collective consciousness of anxiousness and fear. I’ve had conversations with people who recognise they don’t need to stock pile items in their pantry, yet bought excess in fear that there might not be enough for them. I’ve had conversations with people who know that copious amounts of toilet paper won’t save them from contracting the virus and don’t understand the connection between COVID-19 and the purchase of toilet paper, but got swept up in the fear and bought it anyway.

I’ve been intrigued by the collective pull into this hyper maniac state of being. This hyper reactive state of being. It is a true and grand representation of the current state of our mental health and it’s such an important time to become witness to what is happening in your own mind, as well as the minds of those around us. We have been living in this heightened state of awareness for far too long. Stress is becoming one of the biggest influences of chronic disease and our nervous system is not designed to remain in the fight/flight response for extended periods of time. It’s making us sick physically, psychologically and socially. Yet in this do more - have more - be more way of life society has tunnelled into, stress, poor health, mental disturbances, insomnia and reliance on western medicine to combat the symptoms of our lifestyle choices have become the norm.

Nothing about this is normal.

The reactive forces at play would not be happening to this extent if, as a collective, we were healthier, more mindful and more present. If we were more connected to our body, anchored in the breath, and witness to the fluctuations of the mind, rather than reactive to them. We’d have better tools to respond to global biological crisis, rather than react.

A month ago we were sitting in an all-encompassing experience of deep devotion, love, support and community in response to the devastating fires that ravaged our country. And like a switch flicked to the off position, the polarity is now at play. This putrid sense of Self that screams “I am more important than you” and “I deserve more and will take everything I need regardless of that means for you” shows how easily we’re swayed from the values that will ultimately keep us together.

We are facing something powerful right now. We are facing something new. This global crisis is forcing us into a space we’re not familiar with. It’s forcing us to stop. It’s demanding that we rest. It’s making us look at what is really important – like, really. To consider where are values rest. It’s making us look at how we invest our time, our state of mind in relation to abundance, our health, the systems we’ve been conditioned by for so long. It’s making us see that there is another way.

A better way.

But we cannot see this new path from a rattled state of mind. We cannot full embody, feel and express our emotions when we’re not in our body. We cannot fully understand, articulate, and respond to crisis from a heightened nervous system.

Can you come back into your body?

Can you come back into the experience of noticing the sensations that are telling you all you need to know?

Can you take a moment to get grounded in the breath?

Can you hold on to the values of trust, compassion, mindful consideration and grace in your heart?

Can you reconnect with the energy of community and this sense of oneness that the fires demanded of us rather than run screaming for the hills without a care in the world for everyone else? 

We aren’t getting out of this human experience alive, you know? But we have a greater chance of critical survival when we stay in good health, occupy a mindful disposition and embrace community. This is it – this is our chance to rise into the vibration of love and connectedness. It’s our chance to shake things up and reconsider everything we’ve ever known to step into a higher Truth.

And it starts with you and your connection to your Self.

I’ve created a 20 minute meditation for you. It’s a gentle guide to come back to your breath, anchor in Mother Earth and remember the all-encompassing emotion of love. Because if we’re bathed in love, there is no room for fear.

With love and light,

Tanya xx