There I was sitting at home alone watching some Netflix movie when I received a text from Marc, one of the swimmers on my team. Marc is always up on the latest NYTimes posts and whatever’s happening in the news.
His text read, “If any of you missed the Harris-Walz rollout, find it online and watch it. She was great but he is like a nuclear grenade that will blow Trump away.” I was intrigued, so I found the clip online and watched it.
Ten seconds in, I found myself out of my seat, standing up and cheering with the crowd, “We won’t go back! We won’t go back!” As more cheers and slogans arose spontaneously from the ignited Democrats gathered in support of this momentous, joy-force wave of enthusiasm, I remained standing and cheered with joy and deep relief. Then I burst into tears.
Why was I crying? For at least two reasons. First, I was so happy to finally hear someone talk truth to power in a meaningful, righteous, and joyful way. What I heard Harris say, and what Walz continued saying, made my heart skip. My tears were tears of joy.
The second reason was that I realized how much suppressed anger and fear I’ve been holding since Trump rose to power and influence in this country starting back in 2016. It’s daunting to me to think that a large percentage of Americans could support Trump. I, for one, cannot align with his stance on what is right for the country.
When I’m not actively denying this reality, I’m scared to death!
I have felt the pressure of living under the subtle and not so subtle, weight of negativity in the air, like an ominous dark cloud of doom. I am challenged by my sense that we could end up living in a country where hate, prejudice, racism, misogyny, violence, and nastiness become the order of the day. Today’s political standard, that is, tearing other people down rather than serving to make life better for all, has been going on for a very long time.
So, as yogis, what do we do? Well, I’ve tried to ignore it and move forward – living my life as best I can and teaching yoga.
I remind myself and my students of our intrinsic goodness, our deep value, the power of light, love, kindness, compassion, and humility that dwells within everyone’s heart whether they can access it or not.
My belief in the human being (the human experiment), is unshakeable and unbreakable.
Yoga has given me the power to rise up in the face of incredible challenge and not back away from the untruth around me. And this is also the essence of what I received from Kamala and Tim’s pronouncements. I felt their joy. I felt the presence of the human heart again. My soul recognized this as a blessing, and I burst into tears.
There it is. There’s love. There’s justice and equality. There’s abundance and peace for all. I felt love for my country and for the freedom we must continue to choose and fight for.
This is why we have to continue to practice, to be vigilant, and never stop believing in the intrinsic value and freedom of all beings.
In many ways, we are at the center of the battlefield of the Bhagavad Gita. Finding our way to the midline, our heart, is the challenge.
The heart is the place we must go in order to seek refuge, wisdom, and a vision for a brighter future which calls to us incessantly.
The journey to the heart is why I practice yoga. It’s why I teach yoga. Having a regular yoga and meditation practice is so important today, because it helps us stay grounded and connected. It gives us a sense of love, kindness, wisdom, and belonging in that we aren’t alone. Through practice, we can return to the heart, and we can support each other to not “sit down in the chariot” or suppress our feelings, but to rise up in truth and stand as unshakeable pillars of light in the darkness.
I thank the goddess for yoga!
When I heard Kamala speak, the ominous veil of trauma lifted for me. I realized that I’d been suppressing my emotions, feeling imprisoned where I couldn’t seem to express my joy. Here, finally, my joy was allowed to come forward.
I believe the Democratic wave that Harris and Walz generated was spontaneous. The political pundits are trying to identify exactly where it all came from.
But in my opinion, this wave of enthusiasm is coming from alignment with the source of life itself, that eternal infinite underground wellspring of joy that cannot stay suppressed forever. It must find the light of day. And it did. It has and it continues.
In Sanskrit, Kamala means lotus and is another name for Lakshmi, the goddess of ecstasy, joy, abundance, wellness, and beauty. Lakshmi is the crest of the wave, the peak experience of our potential for joy. The lotus is what she sits on. The lotus flower floats on the surface of the pond while its roots are deep in the mud, nourished by the mud. Tantra’s perspective is that it’s because of the mud that the lotus can blossom her divine beauty and fragrance.
She is in the mud but not of the mud. When we embrace the full spectrum of who we are, both shadow and light, we walk in our true essence of wholeness, gaining wisdom from all of life.
When we push down our shadowy nature and refuse to face our vulnerabilities, we shrivel. Yoga is the embrace of the mud that supports the flower. When we nourish our roots, the flower is healthy. When we nourish our self, we become healthier and happier beings.
My tears flowed when Walz turned to Kamala and thanked her for bringing back the joy.
Although I can generate my own little personal joy in my microcosmic life, and we can generate joy in the Kula, I’ve been missing the joy of the macrocosm. Now as I watched and heard these messages of hope and unity, I began to feel the macrocosmic joy, bigger than myself. I felt a sense of belonging, connected to my political kula. With tears in my eyes, I leapt for joy.
Perhaps now we can join together and make a shift in our country and on the planet! I want this to happen. I desire this. I feel this. I envision this happening. I see that it is already happening. In my heart of hearts, it has already happened. Now I offer gratitude.
May you find the joy deep down in your heart.
I love you. I adore you. And I believe in you. I believe in your ability to stand strong in your truth and let your joy-light shine!
Namaste,
Todd
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