October 2017 - Deborah King

Insomnia No More

Sleep. You’re always getting too little of it. Or even if you’re getting enough, chances are, it’s not the right quality. Or if it’s the right quality, it’s the wrong type. There are even different types of insomnia.¹ With all these different variables, does anyone have the solution to perfect sleep? At first glance, it would appear the answer is “no.” The CDC reports that 1/3 of American adults don’t get enough sleep and even when we go on vacation, 63% of us still struggle with sleep.^{2 3}

Arianna Huffington recently wrote a book about sleep where she explores how sleep can impact multiple areas of your life: physical, mental, psychological, professional, social, and even sexual. Arianna was inspired to write The Sleep Revolution after she collapsed from sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and burnout in 2007 due to a high-stress lifestyle; her fall was so hard, that she broke her cheekbone.

Most people (luckily) won’t suffer from a catastrophic breakdown like Arianna; rather, they’ll find they fall into bad sleep habits, such as “catching up” on sleep during the weekend after getting too few zzz’s during the work week. Or, they may struggle to get their bodies and minds back on a good sleep schedule when we “fall back” or “spring forward” for Daylight Savings. Regardless of the cause, addressing sleep issues will help you live a more balanced and healthier life. Moreover, if you are currently on a healing journey, restorative sleep is a crucial component to your long-term success.

In American culture, we look for a quick fix for anything that ails us – including sleep. As of 2014, there were over nine million Americans using prescription meds to get a good night’s rest. While this is certainly concerning, the alarming statistic is around emergency-room visits related to those prescriptions: in a four-year period, there were twice as many people hospitalized because they had “overmedicated.” This study, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration, did not even address the fact that sleeping pills, like Ambien, are dangerously addictive; they also interfere with your meditation and daytime clarity as well.⁴

So, what can you do get a better night’s rest? Take a page out of your energy healing handbook.

Ayurveda for sleep

Ayurveda is the world’s oldest healing system and literally means “the science of life.” Originating in India, Ayurveda considers sleep one of the three essential parts of good health (the other two are proper diet and balanced sexuality). In fact, sleep is so central to optimal health in Ayurveda that the word for “natural sleep” is Bhutadhatri – a combination of the Sanskrit word Bhuta (your physical body) and Dhatri (mother). Bhutadhatri nourishes one’s body like a mother nurtures her child.

Below are three Ayurvedic sleep remedies to help you achieve health physiologically, psychologically, and neurologically:

1. Indulge in a cup of warm spiced milk

Turns out, the old wives’ tale of drinking warm milk to fall asleep has merit. Take that warm milk one step further by adding a spice like cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg, and you will have a good night’s sleep in a warm mug.

This Ayurvedic sleep remedy is based around the mother-nurturing concept: milk is the first thing that we consume after birth, and drinking warm spiced milk as a part of your bedtime routine will have a nurturing effect on our body and mind. Science has also shown that there are components in milk that support the quieting of the nervous system, which in turn promotes restful sleep.⁵

2. Just breathe

Before you head to bed, practicing your breathing exercise can have a powerful effect on your energy – and your ability to fall or stay asleep.

Pranayama is the control and extension of the breath that activates your Prana (your life force energy). To begin your Pranayama breathing exercise, start by focusing on and connecting to your heart. Once you have made a connection, inhale deeply and chant “om” on your exhale. The “o” sound should be three times as long as the “m” sound. Repeat until you feel nourished and ready to fall asleep.

3. Go to bed no later than 9 or 10 PM (and wake between 4 and 6 AM)

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Who knew Ben Franklin was a follower of Ayurveda?

When you sleep from 9 or 10 PM to 4 to 6 AM, you are giving yourself a natural boost of sattva to start your day (sattva is Sanskrit for optimism/clarity). An important part of Ayurveda psychology, sattva is best described as the amazing happiness you feel just from being alive, which children so easily embody.

And be sure that one of the first things you do in the morning is step outside for a moment and take in the early morning light. Daylight sets you up to be more awake during the day. (Note: if you live in the north where daylight hours are limited in the winter months, invest in a quality light box that you use upon waking to simulate daylight.)

As a part of your early to rise routine, get your physical exercise in before noon. It’s better to wake up early enough to go to the gym before work rather than going in the evening if you are over the age of 25.

Drinking warm spiced milk and practicing Pranayama is often the easy part of a natural sleep remedy. It’s the going to sleep at 9 or 10 PM (and waking at 4 to 6AM) that most people struggle with…after all, life today, with all of it’s online distractions, has no such schedule.

So, what else can you do to get a good night’s rest?

Work with nature, not against it

While we are all special flowers in our own right, nature is rather impersonal and plays by the physical laws of the universe (and not your night owl tendencies). Your body is part of nature and there’s no sense in fighting against your innate programming (spoiler alert: you’re not going to win this round).

You are programmed to go to bed when it gets dark and wake when it’s light. Your biological rhythms – controlled by your internal body clock – affects everything from body temperature and appetite to hormones and sleep timing. These biological rhythms tie back into the three pillars of Ayurvedic health: sleep, proper diet, and balanced sexuality; if one area of your health is off, the others will suffer as well.

So, the secret to getting your zzz’s isn’t a magic pill or potion; once again, ancient energy healing wisdom, combined with being in touch with your body and Mother Nature, and getting to bed at a decent hour, delivers a sleep solution that will put you on the path to living your best life.

So, here’s to restful sleep!

We Are the Land

One of the concepts central to Native American beliefs is the principle that “we are the land.” Woven tightly into many aspects of Native American life and spirituality, this fundamental idea goes beyond being close to nature or seeing the world through an environmental lens. The American Indian dogma of “we are the land” centers around the belief that the Earth is the mind of the people and the people are the mind of the earth. It is impossible to separate the two and our destiny can’t be isolated because the Earth is a part of our being and a reflection of ourselves.

“We are the land” is not a romantic analogy meant to convey that one is a “nature lover” or “close to nature;” rather, it means that we are literally the same being, composed of the same connections and consciousness that ties the roots of the Earth to the roots of human bodies and minds. Just like the base chakra, if these roots are not grounded, it is impossible to create connections with the world around you. Because we are one and the same, everything is sacred and must be honored, loved, and respected. From mountains and oceans to honeybees and flowers, all living things are made up of the same five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space.

Wakan Tanka

Native American Indians see nothing standing between them and Wakan Tanka, which can be loosely translated as the “Big Holy.” Wakan Tanka is not a god of punishment, but the ruling power of Good.

At the time of creation, the Creator to the Native People gave these sacred instructions:

Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.
Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world.
Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother.
Take full responsibility for your actions.
Be truthful and honest at all times.
Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.
Look after the well being of mind and body.
Do what you know to be right.
Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.
Work together for the benefit of all Mankind.
Show great respect for your fellow beings.
Remain close to the Great Spirit.
Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.

Everything is a part of us, and we are a part of everything – complete unity. Indigenous oral traditions passed down through generations preach the need to be humble in the face of Mother Nature, a wise mindset indeed. In fact, it would do “modern” society good to take a page out of the “we are the land” guidebook; by completely ignoring its directives, we continue to treat the Earth as an owned asset in a capitalist race to the bank. So far, we have polluted the air with harmful industrial emissions, poisoned the land with pesticides, and contaminated the water with chemicals. We have unleashed the destructive power of uranium by mining it and making bombs that are capable of complete annihilation.

By living close to the land, the First People understood the natural laws that govern the elements and knew it was wrong to dig up powerful substances buried deep within the Earth. Today, we live in a state of constant disconnect – from the Earth, our bodies, the beating heart of the All – and are finally being forced to face the consequences of years of disrespect to the laws of nature: massive superstorms and extreme climate changes unleash wind, fire, and flooding on an unprecedented scale.

Possibly the most important lesson we can learn from Native elders is the idea of harmony, that is, living in relation to the earth, the sky, the animals, the spirits. When you are dedicated to maintaining harmony – both within yourself and in your outside world – you are walking on what the Native traditions call the “path of beauty.”

To walk the Earth in harmony, in balance both within yourself and externally in the environment, requires purification to correct any discordance or “dis-ease.” You need to heal wherever you have not followed the natural order of life on Earth.

The Navajo “blessingway” teachings lay out this natural order in the four cardinal directions:

East is the sunrise, the season of spring and new growth, when a child learns spiritual and moral standards.
South is noon, the season of summer, when a youth receives an education and starts to work.
West is sunset, the season of autumn and harvest, when the parent maintains the family and home, and becomes the storyteller and conducts ceremonies.
North is midnight, the season of winter and endings, when the grandparent reflects on the Self, and teaches reverence for the natural order and how to restore resources and maintain the right relationship to the elements.

In the Center of the natural order is the hearth, informing all the directions through the central position of spirit and love.

Our modern tradition is radically different, comprised of competition, plunder, and despair. When you walk in harmony with all of the creation, you feel your connection to everything and everyone around you. You don’t plunder the resources of Earth or rape her for your own pleasure. You don’t strive to be or have more than anyone else. You live in the love of harmony and community, not the despair of failure, separation, isolation.

Walking in Beauty is the closing prayer from the Navajo Blessingway Ceremony, the main healing ceremony that is designed to bring forth positive blessings and prevent bad things from happening.

Walking in Beauty

With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.
I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.
In beauty all day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.
With beauty before me may I walk.
With beauty behind me may I walk.
With beauty below me may I walk.
With beauty above me may I walk.
With beauty all around me may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
My words will be beautiful…

Heal and Live in Harmony

Today we fail to invoke the sacred. We seem to be counting on technology to fix the problems we have created: a machine to collect all of the plastic littering our oceans; better detection systems to warn when hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, and tsunamis are approaching; slightly less harmful pesticides and herbicides; a way to inject the CO2 we have emitted into the atmosphere back into the ground. Compare these short-term solutions to what the elders are trying to teach us: new scientific discoveries will not necessarily be the change that leads to the betterment of all living beings.

What is needed is a change in attitude – a change in awareness.

It is only when we understand and live the true meaning of unity that we will bring our inner lives into harmony and heal our “dis-ease.” When we learn humility and stop treating our Mother Earth like a personal treasure chest to fund our every whim and desire, will we recognize a change in attitude. Coming into balance with all living beings and respecting their right to be here as much as our own will reflect a change in awareness. When we stop thinking we are safe and secure from the consequences of our own actions, then, and only then, will we be getting down to the root cause rather than simply treating the symptoms. Then, and only then, will we too walk in beauty.

Me Too

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood movie mogul and star-maker, has been accused of sexual intimidation and abuse by over 40 women, including big names like Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mira Sorvino, and Ashley Judd. His behavior was a well-known secret in Tinseltown, but his easy ride is over. And it’s because of the power of women to speak up, to speak out and tell their truth.

Powerful, seemingly untouchable, and arrogant men are getting a huge wake-up call these days. The “code of silence” is in a death spiral. Men like Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, other offenders, and now Weinstein, have discovered that their wealth, fame, and industry clout are no longer enough to protect them from the consequences of their rampant mistreatment of women.

But getting rid of one offender or another isn’t going to change the general cultural acceptance of patriarchy and entitlement. Nina Jacobson, the female producer of the “Hunger Games,” said “We want to get to a place where the cost of silence is greater than the cost of speaking out. We want to shift the shame to the bully and away from the victims.”

Read entire article on HuffPo

Worldwide Healing Day

Mother Earth is ill, and she is approaching a breaking point. She has been extremely kind, nurturing, and merciful to her inhabitants: she has given us nutrition through her fertile grounds, quenched our thirst with cool water from her rivers and springs, and provided shelter in her forests and caves. Somewhere along the way, we lost the vision of her benevolence and began to treat her as our prey rather than as our respected and honored parent.

First came the dig economy: the reckless extraction of resources from the earth, which enabled a small number of countries, corporations, and c-suite executives to amass great wealth while leaving the majority of earth’s inhabitants in poverty and causing permanent damage to the environment.¹ After years of abuse, Mother Earth is simply doing what she must to survive, which is to remove our ever-expanding population from the equation.

Just as we greedily take raw materials from the earth without considering the impact on future generations, we also apply the same philosophy to the gig economy: paying workers as little as possible with little or no benefits, and when the inevitable happens, cutting them loose and moving on to the next warm body. Is it really any surprise that violence, hate, and fear permeate every aspect of our society? And fear begets terrorism—from the mass shootings in the United States to the brutal killings by ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

For too long we have been treating the earth and all living beings as resources that can be thrown away once their purpose is served. Right now, we have the opportunity to join together and make a vital decision about our collective future: change our greed-based ways or be changed by the consequences: floods, caused by rising sea levels and extreme weather, sweep away entire cities; storms of epic size and strength decimate entire regions; uncontrollable fires leave behind ashes and death; and droughts make water, the basis of life, hard to come by.

Religions around the world have shown how integral water is to us: Native American oral traditions reference a flood that cleansed the Earth and re-purified it, just like the account of Noah and the Ark in the Christian Bible. Ritual washing for purification is used in all three Abrahamic religions, as well as in the dharmic traditions of the East and in the Pagan and Earth religions.

When I began to think about Worldwide Healing Day, over three years ago, the world was on a very different trajectory. Yes, we were leaning towards the edge, but we still had hope: major emission offenders were beginning to be held accountable; science provided facts about climate change that were not ignored or disbelieved; immigrants worked openly and embraced the American Dream; when catastrophe struck, communities banded together and governments provided aid. Fast forward three years and we are living in frightening times; it has become impossible to detangle one crisis from the next. Climate and cultural crises have overwhelmed our empathic ability to give and receive compassion and love.

There is a silver lining—a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build anew a society based on caring for the health and well-being of the planet and one another. When we integrate our knowledge of what must be done with what we are experiencing in these ongoing natural disasters, wisdom emerges. When you share your wisdom in conversation with others, it acts as a catalyst for them to go out into the world and become part of the solution.

Mother Teresa once said, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” So many movements have been built around the concept that global change must start locally, with each one of us. If you are feeling lost and alone, Worldwide Healing Day will help you resolve your personal turmoil and find your way again. If you’re already involved in the process of healing and have started to absorb the spiritual teaching of “heal yourself/heal the world,” join us for Worldwide Healing Day. Connect your bright light to that of others to create a superstorm of healing and love.

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About Worldwide Healing Day

Worldwide Healing Day is an annual event led by NY Times best-seller and Spiritual Teacher Deborah King. Every year on October 21st, people from around the globe will unite as one to collectively focus their intentions and create a unified field of healing energy. Each individual healing thought is magnified by the thousands of other simultaneous intentions, creating a vortex of love and compassion that helps us heal ourselves and the world.

Heal Yourself – Heal the World

Deborah conceptualized Worldwide Healing Day while writing her fourth book, Heal Yourself—Heal the World and she dedicates an entire chapter to this special day. Go on an energy journey of a lifetime withHeal Yourself—Heal the World and embracing your inner healing powers. Deborah explains how your energy shifts and expresses itself through your chakras and shows you that you really do have the power to heal. Filled with meditations and profound techniques, it’s a do-it-yourself guide to healing yourself and to sharing your newfound skills with others, including your pets. Along the way, you’ll meet your spiritual guides, learn about meditation and mind/body types (a handy tool indeed), and understand how to stay healthy and in love with your life. Get your copy >>

Citations:

The concept of “Gig and Dig Economies” is from a speech by Naomi Klein, a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker. Her 2014 book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, was a NY Times best-seller.

Up in Smoke

Three hundred square miles of California is burning. I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never seen a fire like this one, with over 3,500 homes destroyed and dozens of lives lost. I know what it feels like to have to evacuate, to get away from the smoke that fills your lungs and chokes you, to wonder if you will have a home to return to. Imagine losing everything—every “thing” you possess: your clothes, your photos, your electronics, your furniture, everything from your toothbrush to your car gone up in smoke. It can happen not only from fire gone wild, but also from water and wind, as in Puerto Rico, or Texas, or Florida. And you don’t need much of an imagination to understand that these superstorms are no longer rarities, but are what we can expect to happen with more frequency and ferocity.

Mother Earth is not happy with what we have done to her and isn’t going to take it lightly any longer. We have heated the planet, changed the ecology, poisoned her component elements of sea and sky and land, destroyed her biodiversity, and set ourselves on a catastrophic course of destruction. What can you do about it?

Passing through an area in northern California, on one side of the road I saw the smoldering remains of a forest fire; on the other side I could smell the smoke from another fire, mostly homes, that was still not contained. Californians know all about the autumnal “fire season.” But these aren’t the usual wildfires, so common at this time of year. My home state is in flames, with over 21 fires burning and the wind coming up again today. The fear is that these fires will merge into major infernos that cannot be contained.

The Atlas Fire is still scorching Napa Valley’s cherished wine country, and the huge Tubbs Fire has taken out whole neighborhoods in Santa Rosa. Entire towns are potentially in the path of walls of fire and are being evacuated. Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the flames that are hungrily gobbling up thousands of homes and businesses, forests, and the lives of at least 23 people (with numbers sure to rise). GoFundMe appeals are already online to help families who have lost literally everything. The Diablo winds (known as the Santa Ana winds in southern California) are fiercer than ever, hampering efforts of thousands of weary firefighters as the winds blow fiery embers flying over a mile. These hot dry winds, which pick up at night, can reach almost hurricane-type strength; Sonoma County recorded winds at 79 m.p.h.

We are seeing this new breed of unnatural “natural” disaster everywhere. Floods in Texas. Hurricanes in Florida and the Caribbean islands. Fires in the West of the US. No matter how many “deniers” there are out there, scientists agree: climate change is a major factor. We were warned that climate change would produce superstorms, and here they are. The pictures of California after the fires look like the ones from Puerto Rico – total devastation. And who knows what kind of mayhem the next winter will bring?

California has some of the most potentially dangerous severe fire weather in the U.S. Wildfires are fed by dry air, high winds, and low humidity. This past summer broke the records for heat. More exceptional heatwaves and more severe droughts set the stage for more intense fires. Even those heavy summer rains couldn’t alleviate the effects of five years of drought and provided lots of new growth for kindling. In Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean, hotter gulf and ocean waters made for bigger and more severe hurricanes.

A 2012 study¹ published in the journal of the Ecological Society of America, found that climate change will produce “as much as a fourfold increase” in wildfires as the Northern Hemisphere warms, with fire even reaching the Arctic, which will grow more plants capable of burning as the frozen northlands thaw. And the Gulf jet stream, also affected by climate change, isn’t delivering enough moist air and rain from the Gulf of Mexico north into the U.S. mainland. Forests absorb some of the carbon dioxide that comes from burning fossil fuels, which then leads to more warming and therefore more wildfires. More intense winds from storms (witness this year’s hurricanes) knock down “slash fuel,” the fallen branches that provide kindling to forest fires; chaparral scrublands contribute to deadly crown fires.

And the size, severity, and frequency of these fires are increasing over the years. The “wildland-urban interface” (WUI), as the U.S. Forest Service calls the places where homes have been built in what used to be wilderness, directly impacts wildfires and requires more resources to fight them. As of a 2010 study ², almost 44 million houses were in the WUI, especially in California, Texas, and Florida. Houses are encroaching on once pristine natural landscapes, and lives are in danger. The fires that are still raging can shift direction at any time, giving people barely moments to escape the onslaught and the sheer terror of being burned alive.

What does the future hold? When will the consequences of ignoring climate change be acknowledged and acted upon?

As a spiritual teacher, I have to speak out. The time has come when we all have to take action. Especially since we are in the grips of a government intent on destroying what small efforts we have made toward protecting our environment.

Are you passionate about saving the environment—the air, water, soil, plants, animals, and people that make up life on earth? What can you do? You can offset your carbon footprint. You can power your home with green energy. You can support any of the more than 170 organizations in USCAN, the U.S. Climate Network. You can drive an electric or hybrid car. You can eat less meat (which uses the most resources to produce). You can light your house with LED light bulbs that use 80% less energy. You can follow the U.N. guidelines for climate action. Most of all, you can speak up. Learn the facts about climate change and share them on social media. Call your elected local, state, and federal representatives to get them moving in the direction of tackling this huge problem before it’s too late.

This article was originally published on the Huffington Post.

TV Violence: Enough is Enough

This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post. You can read the entire article here.

When you wake up to the news that 59 people have been murdered and over 527 more injured in Las Vegas, many of them in critical condition, and realize that one man—one!—did this to 600 people in 9 minutes, you have to wonder: why do we live in such a violent country? In the U.S., more than 30,000 Americans are killed each year with guns.¹

So what did the killer do as a child? My bet is he was affected by violent shows, just like the recent Washington high school shooter, Caleb Sharpe, who was enamored of TV shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones,” and movies like “American Psycho.” ²

Read Entire Article

Take a Knee Together for Mother Earth

Okay, I admit I’m not a fan of football but I tip my metaphorical hat to the NFL players and team owners who are kneeling, locking arms, or not going out on the field during the National Anthem, the traditional start of the game. There’s a political protest behind that decision, but that’s not what I’m interested in at the moment. It’s the fact that the players are not allowing themselves to be divided—by race, by fear of consequences, by anything. They are firmly stating: we are a team, we support each other, we are united in our actions. It’s a powerful message for us all, without regard to political stance.

You can feel the solidarity, the sheer strength in forming a unit. Books standing shoulder to shoulder on a bookcase shelf have an intrinsic stability, rather than having the same books scattered chaotically over the floor. When you feel like you are stable and supported, the energy center at the base of your spine—known as the root chakra—is open and your energy flows easily throughout your body. The root chakra is the energetic foundation of your life. When it is in balance, you feel grounded, safe, secure. Your basic needs are being met. You are comfortable in your body. You will survive and flourish. It’s like a tree, which stands tall because its root system deep in the earth supports and balances its height that towers above.

When your root chakra is not in balance, you’re just trying to survive. You’re not grounded—physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. You may be tripping over things, wondering how you’ll pay the rent, or stuck in an eating disorder or on anxiety meds or sleeping pills. Your feet, knees, or legs may hurt and you can’t seem to get rid of that ever-present cold. It’s no fun.

All living things have chakras, places where the energy coalesces in certain basic ways and forms vortices of energy. Just like the energy in you travels up the spine from the base chakra to the seventh chakra at the top of the head (and into higher dimensions), so too does the earth rotate energy throughout the planet. When the earth’s root chakra is out of alignment, like it is at the present time, Mother Nature herself gets unhinged. Major hurricanes destroy whole islands; earthquakes topple buildings; fires roar through forests and threaten homes while the smoke infiltrates the lungs of all in its path; volcanoes erupt, floods sweep away houses, cars, and people. The earth protests our indignities against it with an explosive ring of fire. We are currently witnessing the earth coming unhinged at its base chakra, apparently readying to throw itself (and us) into space.

For you to balance your own root chakra, you can get more grounded by shutting off your phone and computer and going outside. You can sit under a tree, like the Buddha did while getting enlightened, or do a physical practice like Pilates, yoga, or tai chi to connect to your body. You can do a meditation practice to keep yourself stress-free and in balance. Most importantly, you can change your response to change.

What do I mean by that? Well, think of what happens when you’re faced with a major change in your life—the breakdown of your family, the loss of a loved one, the end of a job, loss of faith in a functional government, or a stable and sustainable earth? You get scared, and fear, more than anything else, is what throws your base chakra out of balance. You have to decide to stop seeing change as an enemy to be feared or somehow controlled. Fear is the most destabilizing force there is. Internal fear turns into fear of the “other”—those from different cultures, different religions, different skin tones. You know, those immigrants, those white supremacists, those bleeding heart liberals, those terrorists.

So what can restore balance to our beautiful blue planet, where millions of people live in fear and that fear has infiltrated the earth itself? When whole populations are terrified of losing everything they hold dear—whether through fierce storms, unhinged shooters, or political upheaval—the fear is palpable. That’s when we need every single one of us to connect with a strong and stable base chakra and spread a ripple of calm energy out to help heal our surroundings—hearts open, emanating love to Earth and her inhabitants. Kneeling for peace, in peace, is surely a win for all.

So you can be part of the solution, rather than adding to the fear in the world, you need to stabilize your root chakra. To find out what shape your own base chakra is in, take my free chakra quiz on Facebook.

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