The politics of our collective well being

"Us" & "them" are both part of the whole

My grandfather, David Dellinger, was my hero growing up despite my limited understanding of the political issues he was involved with. 

I just knew he treated everyone - including those who totally disagreed with him - with the utmost kindness and respect. As a teenager, I also felt that he treated me more like a human than any other adult I knew.

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This week, not surprisingly, several of my clients have wanted to talk to me about the current political situation. This isn't my area of expertise and I'm not interested in judging any of my clients views as right or wrong.

However, I do pay close attention to people's bodies do when they speak.

I've seen a lot of anger recently - mostly directed outwards, but sometimes directed inwards as well. I've also seen despair, confusion, disbelief, panic and blame.

My practice is not to have any judgments about what I see.

Something else I'm seeing these days is more people digging deeper to understand what it would mean for us to discover a state of collective well being, by looking for the humanity that unites us all.

My 15-year-old daughter took a vacation with a friend in Pensacola, Florida and was there when the most recent US presidential debate took place. Most of the people she met there vote differently than the people she knows in Washington DC.

She was struck by how nice these people were. They were so different than what she had imagined based on things she'd heard people say in Washington DC.

If you think about that, you might point out that this doesn't change any of the political "facts on the ground." But it did change something in my daughter's body.

When clients talk about politics, I ask them to notice what happens in their bodies. I listen - which they generally find helpful - but I don't try to provide any "solutions."

Again, that's not my expertise.

But also, despite the recurring feeling that we live in a world of irreconcilable differences, I don't believe I'm helping anyone find more peace in their nervous system by reinforcing notions of "us" vs. "them."

When you think about politics these days, what happens . . . 

. . . to the quality of your breathing?
. . . the space inside your throat?
. . . the space inside your belly?
. . . the length of your spine?

Whatever you think is "the solution" to the political crisis (if, indeed, you think there is one), what shifts if you can think about it without interrupting your breath, contracting inwards or compressing downwards?

What if you don't try to solve "problems" by blaming "them", but rather - ask what you can do that creates more peace in your nervous system and the lives of those closest to you?

Our well being cannot be separated from the whole.

"Us" and "them" are both part of that whole.

What if - rather than imagining apocalypse - you dig deep into your imagination and the very real physicality of your human body to find the sensation of common ground?

What happens if you make it a practice to keep your attention in that place?

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I'm not an expert on politics, but I've dedicated my whole life to cultivating powerful practices of deep listening that can create paradigm shifts in embodied experience and our sense of what's possible.

If you'd like to live with a more deeply rooted comfort in your own skin so that you can more effectively use the power of your imagination and your love of humanity to make your best possible contribution, my 16-week group coaching program, Grounded Connection, was created for you.

To find out about the enrollment process, click here to set up a free call.