This year has caused absolute havoc on our nervous systems. Regardless of whether folks were directly affected by the Eaton Canyon fires or ICE raids, the collective trauma is heavy. To make matters worse, our administration continues to baffle us by stripping us of democracy, inflicting violence on communities of color, invoking fear in trans folks, and martyring fascists (to name a few…) What an absolute mind f*ck!

I’ve had a number of clients share their feelings of anger and rage which I want to honor. That anger comes from a love of equality, justice, and of one another. I pray we recognize this feeling to be sacred. Sacred in the sense that it comes from such a beautiful place of immense care. What we might do with that rage could look different depending on the person. Regardless, it needs to be metabolized. While raging out can sometimes feel empowering and self-righteous, anger held in the body can alter our perception, judgments, and even perpetuate feelings of sickness in the physical heart. In Buddhism, it is considered a “poison” which not only can cause harm to others, it causes more harm to the one who carries the anger. While that all sounds ‘well and great, thanks Buddha’ if we’re paying attention, we’re still P*SSED!

My unsolicited (but also solicited opinion) (based on doing thousands of hours of body and energy work) would be MOVE THAT ENERGY OUT OF THE BODY as much as possible.

Transmute anger trapped in the body through –

• screaming into the ocean (a pillow or in the car can also work)
• actually (safely) breaking stuff (yes go to one of those rage rooms)
• try a fitness class that is exerts high levels of energy (boxing, really any martial art, could be pushing heavy weights too, going to the driving range and smashing golf balls)
• go for a run or fast paced walk (maybe even with hand weights or a weighted vest)
• chop wood, swing a baseball bat at the driving range, do serious yard work!
• cold plunge to regulate
• listen to music that induces some level of catharsis for you; this can range for different people; some may choose binaural beats and healing frequencies, some (hi) may choose black metal or grindcore – all options are great 🙂

NEXT

• trace back the root cause of the anger and connect with common humanity;
  • if, for example, the thought is ‘this country is a hellrealm’ (or something along those lines) say something that AFFIRMS your feeling and connects you with the community/your neighbors/many others ”Right now it’s like this and MANY OF US feel this pain!!” “Just like me, MANY people are angry!” (this helps us zoom out and remember we are not isolated in this feeling; so many people (like us) exist and wish for a better, more humane, and compassionate world.
• when you feel regulated, journal ways you could potentially support your local community. consider a couple of options / ways to give back or lend a hand nearby. This simple gesture will go A LONG WAY to both help others AND yourself feel better -even if for a day.
• ***One day at a time***
• If volunteering or mobilizing isn’t possible, sharing resources via email or helping doing admin for example, could also help. if you’re not sure where to turn, ask your neighbors, local yoga studio, gym, or maybe even post on nextdoor.
• TAKE BREAKS from social media, the news, etc. you might even choose hours of the day where u restrict phone usage of any kind. This isn’t choosing to ‘ignore’, this is choosing to stay in your energy at particular times and allow yourself to locate moments of peace to be able to better respond to whatever is next.
• UNHOOKING IS VITAL – progressive muscle relaxation techniques or body scans to return to the body after taking in the media to ‘reconnect and center’ when possible
• If you’re still wound up, perhaps educate yourself more on history and social psychology. Not to say you’re not already, just keep reading.
  • When I was in grad school, the more I learned about social psychology (how the mind works, group social behaviors / dynamics, studies on totalitarian leaders and dictators in history, and how trauma factors into abuses of power, the more I could at least *understand* how some of what we witness is not only believable, but sadly, predictable
  • Another lens through which I look at the world is a Buddhist one. In Buddhism, greed, hatred, and delusion are the ”three poisons” our world suffers from in samsara. In addition, learning about the anatomy of the mind / how it is conditioned can also lend insight into what we’re witnessing on the political worldstage. For instance, critical thinking requires us to go ‘against the norm’ – to challege – to dig deeper. The fact is, the majority of a society will ‘simply go with what they are told or born into unless given a reason to question. The more I listen to my teachers, the less *shocking* it becomes to me to recognize how many people are completely (maybe even blissfuly) delusional. Without the INTENTION to see clearly, many people will let their shadow (trauma, subconscious programming, other people’s views, etc) run their entire lives. It’s scary!! It doesn’t take the sting off, but it does help make it *make sense* (somewhat).
  • Finally, though people have various opinions on Adam Curtis, I found this documentary series to paint history in a way that leads us to where we are now. Again, it doesn’t make it *better* or *less terrible*, it only helps us deepen our understanding of how far unchecked egos and trauma can go.
  • https://thoughtmaybe.com/cant-get-you-out-of-my-head/

Can’t Get You Out of My Head

Can’t Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World is a six-part series that explores how modern society has arrived to the strange place it is today. The series traverses themes of love, power, money, corruption, the ghosts of empire, the history of China, opium and opioids, the strange roots of modern conspiracy theories, and the history of Artificial Intelligence and surveillance. The series deals with the rise of individualism and populism throughout history, and the failures of a wide range of resistance movements throughout time and various countries, pointing to how revolution has been subsumed in various ways by spectacle and culture, because of the way power has been forgotten or given away.

Do you have suggestions to add? Please feel free to share!