“There are umbilical cords linking us to all that is in the universe and in the entire cosmos. Can you see the link between you and me? … If you do not yet see it, look more deeply and I am sure you will see.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries. From the chapter “Happy Continuations,” pp. 50.

Distraction & Connection

Distraction is a control tactic. If you lose focus or become overwhelmed, you can't fight back.

A sustained yoga and meditation practice can help you build resilience.

Through yoga and meditation, you practice:

• noticing challenging sensations.

• understanding that you are not those sensations, rather, you are an observer.

• claiming your autonomy and choosing where to focus your attention.

• allowing difficult sensations to commingle with neutral or even pleasant sensations (multitudes and non-dual thinking)

• imagining possibilities, yet remaining patient.

“However often the restless

mind may break loose and wander,

[one] should rein it in and constantly

bring it back to the Self [Ātman].”

— Bhagavad Gita, 6.26. As translated by Stephen Mitchell, and with small changes by me for clarity and removal of gendered language.

Through yoga and meditation, we gain insight and understanding of what to do when we get distracted. We are better able to call ourselves back because we know how...we do it every time we practice!

And with continued practice, and genuine curiosity about the broader effect of yoga, you might start to notice how we are connected—physically/spatially, economically, biologically/genetically, historically, cosmically, fatally.

“We are kin, you and I. We are all related, not just in a vague, ‘spiritual’ way but in a genetically provable way. …We all have a common ancestor. We are all interconnected genetically, spiritually, and culturally, something that we often forget when we wage wars over boundaries and nations in our quest for cultural, political, and economic dominance and hegemony.”

— Anjali Rao, Yoga as Embodied Resistance: A Feminist Lens on Caste, Gender, and Sacred Resilience in Yoga History. From the chapter “Origins of Yoga and Hinduism,” pp. 25.

My little world touches your little world. And your little world touches another. And so on, and so on, and...

Knowing this transforms our practice from the individual lens—which can feel lonely, pointless, and futile when no progress or change is evident —to a communal lens.

Sometimes it's easier to stick up for others than for ourselves. Sometimes it's easier to fight when we know we have others to tag in. You don't have to know it all, or do it all. Just your part.

Distractions will come and go. Our inherent connectivity is constant. Let's keep fighting for and building a better world.

“When a group comes together and commits to practicing mindfulness together—breathing together, walking together, doing some kind of good work together to lessen the suffering in the world—this is positive, collective action that can be very powerful.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering. From the chapter “Happiness is not an individual matter,” pp. 78.

Higher Ground

I want to be clear that my reflections are not coming from a “love and light,” “let's accept everybody” sort of place. It's actually the opposite.

I'm struck by how so many of us are negatively impacted by the awful decisions of fragile, unimaginative, and hateful world leaders. Every action they take ends up fucking over the entire planet—its people, animals, ecosystems.

So we're connected, but that doesn't mean I want good things for them. I wish terrible things upon them, and I want our world rid of them. Does that make me as evil as they are? I don't know… I don't think so. I believe intention matters. Destroying a world for dominance is one thing—destroying dominant systems and figureheads so that life on our planet has a chance to prosper is different.

My wish is for an alternate world. My wish is that we come together to destroy a miserable world, and create a new one—maybe a world where everyone does yoga and writes poetry and we're all just chill as fuck. Anyway, I can dream.

Cover photo: Grotesque Decoration with Animal Heads. Artist: Daniel Hopfer. Date ca. 1520

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/9c95669d-bf05-404d-a69a-b39eacfe27f6