(Below you will find real words from my brain, not from AI)
Here in Detroit, summer has started- with a blast of very hot air. Officially, she makes her entrance on Thursday, June 20th, the Summer Solstice, but she has been teasing us with waves of heat for months now, thanks to climate change (remember that 75 degree day in February?!) How do we not melt into despair or burn up with eco-anxiety? (or from the myriad of genocides, mass shootings, new rulings and scary laws, natural disasters, [insert collective trauma here]). It is easy to get overwhelmed and then disconnect by turning up the AC, watching the flavor of the week on TikTok, bingeing another episode, or buying something new on Amazon.
I think the answers to healing this disconnection are many and I don’t pretend to know them all or even most. I too, often slip into despair (and the convenience of Amazon shopping). Lately I’ve gotten into audio books (while embarking on a big project of staining a fence). I’ve been listening to Braiding Sweetgrass, Rewilding, Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth, and reading The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible (too hard to listen to this one). These books have given me hope and ideas. What have you been reading or listening to that’s helping you?
It’s too much to go into all of the books here, but I do hope you check them out. What I do want to share is this: Spending intentional time with the more than human world has helped me immensely. Whether through gardening, hiking, hammocking, foraging, doing yoga outside, camping, or just sitting and observing, getting to know the living Earth has created awareness of our interconnection, our interbeing. I struggle with the heat, and the bugs, and my allergies, but I notice the subtle changes day-to-day in the world around me and how I am interwoven with this special place. I see how she takes care of me and this makes me want to take care of her even more (it also makes me ache for her even more). It sparks many small actions (“Do these even matter?” the despairing part of me wonders. “They do!” my higher Self/which is also the Earth answers) and helps me connect with others for broader change.
It has also changed my sadhana or daily spiritual practice, and is starting to change how I share the practices of yoga and meditation. So often we practice outdoor yoga that has zero connection to the natural world we’re practicing in! Little by little I’ll be weaving in what I’ve discovering into my free weekly classes at Unwind Wednesdays at Seasons Market. I hope you can join me one week at the beautiful El Moore Gardens next to Seasons Market for yoga yes, but also attention to our interconnections, both human and more than human.
I also have one more Saturday morning donation class at the Congregation this summer. Saturday, July 6th at 9 am we’ll explore the lessons the living Earth can teach us about activity and rest as it pertains to stress relief.
And I have a date for my workshop at the Barefoot & Free Yoga Festival at Proud Lake Recreation Area! My workshop on Yoga & Ayurveda for Burnout will be Saturday, August 3rd from 12:30-2pm! The festival is an amazing way to realize our interbeing, both with the living Earth and other humans who share a joy for yoga and other holistic healing practices.