The shit is getting real. All of our reactions are appropriate at this moment – denial, hope, abject terror, despair, sadness. The search for understanding. Deep grief. Me, I am angry. My fellow countrymen would rather be governed by an insane aspiring dictator felon than by a woman. Or the Russians (Chinese, Saudis, etc.) had a hand in this. And don’t get me started on Elon Musk.
When the shit gets bad, I look to Hindu cosmology for a greater perspective, to see what the ancient holy ones in Mother India, the progenitors of our yogas, have to say. And these boys were in it for the long game. They believed the timespan of our universe ran in cycles, and each cycle lasts 4,320,000 years. The long, long game. Each cycle has four stages called yugas, and in each successive yuga, spiritual qualities degrade. Alas, dear friends, we have the great misfortune of living in the last yuga - Kali Yuga. Kali is the goddess of destruction and death. In Hindi, the word “Kali” means black. This is where we live—in a yuga marked by selfishness, preoccupation with worldly goods and riches, environmental damage, and war. Sound familiar?
I wish this weren’t so, but here we are. I have no idea how bad things will get. Damage to our democracy (flawed as it is) may be reversed later down the road, but damage to our environment will not. Kali Yuga. I share this not to encourage apathy or nihilism, but to help explain why things are so bad. Let’s not pretend otherwise. Things are very bad. Yes. But the lesson of Kali Yuga is to ultimately surrender. We are specks in a vast universe of space and time. It is OK to feel powerless because we are ultimately powerless.
At the same time: we are also beings of light. The same Indian philosophers who warned of Kali Yuga understood our true nature as souls only. Souls that last indefinitely, because this moment is but one brief wink in the endless eye of time. For Kali Yuga isn’t the end of time; when it’s over (in 428,899 CE!), there is a pause and then the cycle begins again. We return to Satya Yuga, the era of truth.
So be good to yourself and good to your people and know that we are not lost. We are just learning lessons from this dark age, as our souls return again and again and eventually emerge in the age of truth, victorious.
In the meantime, here are some survival tips for this moment:
1.) Rest as much as you need to rest. Believing the world will end burns through a lot of emotional energy. Give your mind a break by noticing the breath. Count the length of your inhale and then make your exhale a few counts longer. Great for trying to fall asleep. Even if you don’t, your body will relax from the extended exhale and concentrated focus on the breath.
2.) Move your body. Even if you feel exhausted, remember that movement will help you. Stress creates hormones that need to be run through your circulatory system. If you tend to anger (like moi), then move your thighs by running, biking, squats, or holding goddess or chair pose. This encourages your body to produce more testosterone and you can move through that anger faster. Walking clears the mind like nothing else. Of course, there is the physical practices of yoga, and I uploaded a special video to help you rebalance during this time.
3.) Let go of media. Yes, media is great for trying to process the shock, but after a time, you will be reading and re-reading the same things again. I did it on election night, and again the morning after. Don’t get stuck in the echo chamber of everyone’s upset. Take a break and divert your attention to anything else. If you must do media, decide beforehand how much time you want to invest, and then keep track of your time. Keep that boundary and be serious about stopping.
4.) Up your levels of happy chemicals. The above steps contribute towards this, but there is more. Connecting with others in your life not only to remind yourself of your community, but to increase your serotonin levels. Hug anyone you can find. Be with your pet. Get a massage. These increase oxytocin. Of course, sex is a classic go-to for this. So is chocolate, so eat as much of it as the law will allow, and don’t feel guilty.
5.) Feel in percentages. It is easy to get overwhelmed with difficult emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, and despair. Because of this, it’s easy to shut down and numb yourself to feeling at all. Instead, know that you need to feel these emotions, but don’t feel so much that you fall apart entirely. Ask yourself – how much is safe to feel now? 50%? 25%? 5%? You can build up over time, and remember, time is endless.
6.) Pray to Divine spirits. In this moment, let’s remember we have help. However you conceive of the Divine, go there: gods, goddesses, earth spirits, plant spirits, animal spirits, angels, fairies. Thank these good spirits for protecting you; thank them even if you don’t believe in them. Your gratitude will strengthen that protection and help you stay safe in perilous times.
