Calm Calamities
Photo byPhoto by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash
2020 saw us all in a panic, 2021 will be a year of internal peace. Calamities are constantly happening to throw us into a personal chaotic state, but through some inner clarity we can maintain our inner balance. We can choose to keep calm through the calamities of life. We just need to find out what helps us maintain the calmness.
Balance right now is hard. Yoga literally helps us stay balanced in both body and mind. Stretching our bodies, moving them, feeding them good nutrients, and staying hydrated maintain homeostasis in our bodies. Perhaps food we could grow ourselves through the seasons. Gardening and yoga are meditations that allow our minds to go free, let them drift. The rhythm, the movement, the calmness of an everyday rituals we establish allows us to see past the chaos and into a world we can control. We control when we do these things, how much we do of them, and honestly if we do them at all. Motivation is key and since we are mostly home, we must motivate ourselves to do most things.
- “Real Peace is always unshakable; Bliss is unchanged by gain or loss.” -Yogi Bhajan.
- “Yoga began with the first person wanting to be healthy and happy all the time.” — Sri Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras
- “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” — Audrey Hepburn
As the above quotes point out, you oversee your world, no one else. The chaos around us is going to continue, but when you focus on yourself during this calamitous time, going forward one step at a time, you will have balance, you will have calm. You control your own world.
Now can we change the outside world, no, but we can try to make a difference in it. The only thing guaranteed is that you can take care of yourself, your body, and your mind. Gardening, walking, yoga, painting, knitting, whatever you do, you are the master of it. Yes, you will be pushed and pulled in these trying times, but if you hold strong, no one and nothing will knock you off your calmness.
Mental health management during chaotic times get put on the back shelf. We are in the fight or flight mode instead of the balance mode. We struggle to stay out of the chaos of the world we are currently in. Perhaps this is our world from here on out, we do not know, but the world we have now requires us to maintain our own balance, it is important to remain calm and not frantic. Take deep breaths, look at the sunrise, get in your car and chase a sunset, do whatever you need to, journal, get therapy, dance, to get you back to balance.
As this time of year is filled with changes in nature, colors, fullness, and change, it is important to ground oneself in the everyday activities to keep calm during the calamities. Remember you are the queen of your own universe. Keep calm and move your body, and challenge yourself to a new craft, a new passion, a new groove to move you calmly through 2021,2022, and 2023.
