How Are You Feeling?

How are you feeling since the 24th February?

You may not remember from that exact date, but I do, because there was a collective or global seismic shift in the level of fear and trauma around the world and I felt that. Maybe you did too or it exacerbated underlying feelings of trauma and anxiety that already existed within you. So, how are you feeling now? Lets look at how dealing with our individual anxieties can help collectively.

The 24th February 2022 resonates with me for 3 reasons:

The first is that it was my twins 29th birthday . They are both got engaged in 2020 and both will be married soon. This is the heart-warming news that has carried me through otherwise challenging times.

The second reason is that my younger son aged 25 left home again to fly his wings after having been locked down with his Mother for the previous 2 years of the pandemic. In the one sense having known this day would come and prayed that it would be soon for him, on the other of course I would miss his easy going and humorous presence.

The third reason was that the 24th February was the day the Ukraine war hit the headlines. It seemed again we were watching millions of innocent victims running for their lives and leaving everything behind them, including Fathers, sons brothers and uncles to fight this war. How did that seem right or fair for either sex?

How Are You Feeling?

Since then the news and media have upped the ante on war, the cost of living, pandemics, I can’t listen for more than 2 minutes. I feel the depravity of it clenching my insides, pulling me from just being present with what is in the moment and igniting anxiety.

In this moment I’m sharing this underlying hum of collective anxiety that pitched itself inside me on 24th February 2022.

Collective anxiety means global anxiety and as conscious beings we have a collective consciousness that we are all tuned into, a bit like radio air waves.

Our habitual patterns of fear and wanting are exacerbated by the news and media and are getting in our way individually and as a Society.

On 24th February our collective compassion for those suffering in Ukraine awakened but as the war has gone on putting more money into a few already bulging pockets we have have forgotten our collective compassion and returned to our inner sense of fear and wanting.

There is a collective yearning for a more compassionate society that we have lost track of.

We have lost our ability to just be with someone who is suffering, accept them as they are and listen deeply, instead we are trying to fix them.

Our judgement seeps into everything we see and hear – it’s a habit, a conditioned way of thinking.

Caring For Our Anxiety.

It’s now 6 months since I’ve felt this fear and anxiety and I’ve spent a lot of time caring for those feelings and if I hadn’t I think by now I would feel a lot worse. I Find it really hard to wake up with an immediate sense of humming anxiety to sit and meditate. So I’ve been out in nature a lot being with the ocean, mountains, trees, flowers, animals, and listening, smelling, seeing and allowing the Mother to offer me her healing, to wrap her arms around me. She never lets me down.

I found a Sangha Group on zoom which is a like-minded community of spiritual seekers which I can link into for uplifting guidance.

I practice Mindfulness in whatever arises from moment to moment, filling my bucket with little resources throughout the day. Feeling the ‘feels’ of whatever mood I’m in.

Sometimes I do a strong energetic Yoga practice, sometimes slow mindful movement depending on the energy that’s available or my mood.

I swim in the sea a couple of times a week and bask like a whale in the ocean.

I also find listening to podcasts or You Tube videos that resonate with my ‘ Deeper I’ is very calming.

So although there is a collective sense of these dynamic patterns of fear and anxiety, I also feel the One inside of me, who is observing all of this feelings and caring for them by nurturing them with these self compassionate practices. Then observing more as the feelings of fear and anxiety subside and something freer and loving takes it place. So for a while I feel like a bird of prey gliding on the air currents high above.

We have the active mind, the doing mind that is pulling us into fear and wanting then we have the listening, understanding, observing mind that brings us into presence and awareness. Just as you log into your computer you must log into this observing place in order to restore peace into your doing place. This is the healing. It’s a continuous practice and I’m having to work much harder at it during these last couple of years and especially since 24th February.

So regularly ask yourself ‘How am I feeling?’ Then take action to restore some inner peace. It may be having a cup of tea; stepping into the fresh air; taking a few mindful breaths; chatting with a trusted friend, find what works for you. Find your observing place that allows you to enter awareness and presence for a while and to soar like the bird of prey. As individuals if we practice self compassion then collectively we can create a more compassionate world.

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Hari Om Tat Sat 🙏🙏🙏