The world news: Sorrow. Anxiety. Disruption. Division. Tragedy.

Sometimes the world feels out of control. Your personal world. The lives of friends or colleagues. Your country. That country. The weather. When so much happens around you, a sense of powerless arises. Even when you identify actions to take or ways to help others, the muchness of this sorrowful world can get to you.

Now is the time to come together and generate the energy of healing, compassion, and love. 

Whether you have a religious tradition or a personal practice of prayer or devotion, you know the comfort and potential when you plug into the Divine. Your body breathes more freely, your wild emotions settle, and your mind calms a bit. 

This settling opens a door within your heart where you realize there is something greater than you. 

That you are not alone. This greatness, however defined, offers refuge from the storm within which rages in response to the overwhelming news of the world. And this news is overwhelming. 

So, make sure you don’t drink out of the proverbial firehose. 

Turn off the television and take a break from the news that streams through your phone. Breathe a bit and take a walk. The world will still turn without your witness (and upset).

There is comfort in devotion, centered prayer, and sacred ritual.

Even with a heavy heart and despairing mind, the familiarity of your spiritual practice or sacred tradition ushers you into a new state. Yet it doesn’t descend like manna from heaven. It’s up to you to head in the direction of peace, healing, and clarity. 

It helps to bring attention to breath and focus strongly upon your intention to feel peace. 

The world is wild and seemingly out of control. So is your mind. This is why the strong focus is necessary. While it helps to have a daily practice to fall back on, you may easily resurrect your earlier traditions or enter a new one. Even when you’ve not prayed, attended a religious service, or meditated regularly, you can find your way into the benefits of calming the body-mind and reconnecting with the Divine. When it’s hard to do this on your own, especially when you’re unable to regulate your upset, joining with others enhances this potential. 

Group devotion is contagious.

Just like fear, hatred, and division. The good news is that you’re in charge of what you “catch.” The media thrives on creating fear. Bad news sells. Good vibes calm. Your choice. 

The higher states of love and compassion are accessed when your energy, body, and mind are regulated.

When these levels of your being are coherent, you offer a gift to your environment. You radiate peace and invite the potential to join you in the soothing energy of love. 

It’s an energy thing, first and foremost. 

When you understand that energy is your foundational architecture, you’ll pay more attention to any technique or intent that organizes your energy into a coherent state. All healing is enhanced with coherence. For you, them, and the world. Using the group as a springboard to an organized, calm energy state makes sense. You can remember this.

How did you feel at the end of that yoga class, group meditation, or beautiful religious service?

Your system remembers these events, no matter how distant they may be. I was raised Catholic and had a short stint in Catholic school for a few early years. I remember the prayers, the mass, the ritual.  Some memories are precious as they reflect a felt sense of loving connection. Some memories make me realize I had no awareness of my breath or desire to commune with the Divine. I was just racing through the prayers we were saying.

“Jesus, I’m a doggie.”

I’m not even sure what that prayer was supposed to be. “Jesus, I adore you” would make sense. Somewhere in that third grade experience, we all lost our way. It’s not like we were being smart asses when my fellow classmates would mention the doggie prayer. We hadn’t grown into that skill yet. We were just going through the motions. 

Rote prayers. Rote practice. No felt connection with the Divine.