There’s no way around it… the triggering political activity in our country is rapid-fire and intense.

Division, finger-pointing, and name-calling are the behaviors de jour.

Do you feel like your being tossed and turned in a tumultuous wave of emotional and jarring actions and reactions? I sure have.

We’re living in a time where “us against them” is the dominant posture modeled to the people by our highest leaders.

The intensity has been non-stop for months on end and it doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Sure is a lot to manage… can’t even take a little break to scroll through social media without being overwhelmed by the tone and subject matter.  

The inflammatory topics we face are impacting every citizen. 

Recently, it’s been a particularly revealing and vulnerable time for the women of the United States.

There is so much to say about all of this… today I’ll focus on how we can mindfully make our way through these types of turbulent times.

Pause the narrative – find strength in community

Together We Rise hosted a gathering to find clarity and relief through authentic dialogue and support.

As a community…

We eliminated division by sitting in a circle (without an aisle).

We created a safe space for authenticity with four simple agreements… to offer each other the gifts of presence, confidentiality, open-mindedness, and loving kindness.

We leaned into nature and each other.

We exhaled struggle and inhaled peace.

You see, this “us and them” mentality is a choice.

By coming together as women we chose the opposite… we aligned and strengthened our connection to each other.

The result?

We quieted the chaos… we listened to the ever-steady teaching available through nature… we made space to feel our truth.

We remembered.

Tap into sisterhood to find peace and inner truth.

Now if you’re a man reading this… please don’t leave quite yet.

Revising our country’s narrative requires us to work together, to understand and honor both the masculine and the feminine.

We are interconnected and interdependent. There is not one without the other… and, we are stronger united.

We want you to see and understand us…

So what did we remember at our gathering of women?

In our stillness, it became clear that as mothers, grandmothers, and daughters our presence is required to help recalibrate the moral compass of our country.

Sound lofty and impossible?

In many ways, it does not seem that women are on the rise at the moment. I get that, I really do.

We are a country and a people out of balance and, it’s been a long time in the making.

The dominance of the masculine is squelching exactly what it requires to thrive.

What’s missing?

The yin to its yang… the feminine. The valuable perspective of those who birth new lives and hold down the fort when all hell is breaking loose has been minimized, even lost.

It’s time to stand into certainty and offer the balancing perspective of the mother, the queen, the fierce yet gentle warrior. Now is the time. 

We remembered that the healing path to balance starts with us.

We rise when we are…

Leaning in.

Speaking truth.

Seeing our beauty.

Normalizing vulnerability.

Stepping into our strength.

Witnessing, supporting and celebrating ourselves and each other.

Lifting each other up today and all days.

As we sustain this practice TOGETHER, we root into the strength of feminine leadership. 

We choose the natural way women navigate life, not the one imposed on us that has us comparing and competing with each other. We create a wave that WILL influence the world around us.

Together we ARE stronger. Together we rise. It’s that simple.

Read on to learn the 5-steps we practiced at our recent gathering, a supportive model for making your way through these turbulent times.

6 steps to navigate chaos with strength and clarity

1) BREATHE. Just pause when the narrative gets overwhelming. Take a deep breath. This action is one of the most powerful tools for shifting our internal state. 

The Together We Rise community chose to schedule a gathering to ensure time to connect with ourselves and each other. We started off with quiet listening to the healing sounds of the Native American flute shared by the talented Kylie Oliver.

We grounded ourselves into the present moment by allowing the soft sand to hold us… by noticing the calm rhythmic waves, feeling the warm sun kiss our cheeks and the gentle breeze lift away our tension.

2) OBSERVE. Be present with the thoughts, feelings, and sensations you are experiencing. When overwhelmed give yourself permission to scan your body to notice where the feelings live in your body and what they feel like. Be descriptive, self-awareness is empowering.

We had a tree branch with many colorful leaves. We each picked and held a leaf as we named what we felt… anger, confusion, disbelief, pain, frustration, and sadness were some of the ones that came up for us.

We shared our stories and as we listened we visioned those leaves holding all of those big feelings for us. We became clear that we were not alone.

3) LET GO. Once you’ve identified some of the valid responses being triggered by external forces, you get to choose which ones are helpful and which are not… and then gently release them.

While you may not be able to control what’s happening around you, you CAN begin to practice shifting your actions and reactions.  It’s a powerful time to mindfully soften and let go of some of the big feelings that are not serving you.

Our group quietly carried our leaves to the water’s edge. Much like the tree, we released them, along with our inner turbulence, to the ocean… She responded by gently receiving and lifting them from us. We call this ritual release. If you are not near the ocean, writing and then burning the paper you wrote on is another way to visualize yourself letting go.

4) SELF-CARE. Letting go opens space within. With this new lightness, you now get to choose how you will fill that space…

To navigate life in ways that invite peace, ease, and joy we require the type of fuel that brings balance and wellbeing to our body, mind, and spirit. Now is a perfect time to fill your open space with love and light.

After releasing our leaves, we took time together to share some of the many self-care activities that work for us… yoga, time with friends and family, art, meditation, burning sage for cleaning, wearing rosewater as a reminder to have an open heart, music, exercise and movement, time in nature, and remembering to care for self before others. 

What are the things you can include in your day today that take care of you?

5) INTENTION. It’s likely that at this point you feel some relief. To sustain this grounding, take a moment to set an intention with yourself… make your plan for how you will navigate life going forward. Which tools and what support will you tap into to lighten your experience of the bumps and chaos that cross your path?

As part of our group’s nourishing time together we offered a blessing for ourselves, each other, our nation, all people and our planet to receive healing, love, and light. We acknowledged that our choice to show up and pause the outer narrative was critical and that by starting within we ignited a ripple of good vibrations.

We set personal intentions to sustain this balanced place by using the tools that work for us and by reaching out for the support we require from our friends, family, community… and even professionally if needed.

One more tool… affirmations, they ARE powerful. We closed our time together by reciting these ones after a few moments in quiet meditation while listening to Kylie play her flute one more time…

I am peace.
I am love.
I am earth.
I am ocean.
I am woman.

I am beautiful.
I am safe.
I am supported.
I belong.

We are peace.
We are love.
We are beautiful.
We are safe.
We are supported.
We belong.

Take good care of you as you travel through the coming days.

You are valuable and your voice matters in this world. 

When you find yourself feeling unsettled in life, practice the steps we shared above AND lean into your community. When you are feeling strong, pay it forward by checking in on your people… let them know you are thinking of them.

Please reach out for help when needed, these times are trigging so much for so many. Asking for help and then receiving that support IS one of the strongest things you can do in life.

It’s worth saying again because it’s so important in this divided reality we live in at the moment…

Together we ARE stronger. Together we rise.