Why Your Practice Matters in the Polycrisis, Part II

In my last post, I wrote that the only way out of the backlog of individual and collective unprocessed emotions we are dealing with in our polycrisis, is through. I suggest reading Part 1 first and then coming back here. This means not sweeping them under the rug, ignoring things and hoping they go away. Living through a time of polycrisis indeed brings many opportunities to practice, because there is so much that gets stirred up in us. 

Maybe you have had the experience of, "woah, where did that come from?” about issues you thought you had put behind you but unexpectedly come up again, seemingly unresolved. The body remembers and holds on to significant, intense emotional experiences until we’ve fully transformed and released them. And sometimes not only our own individual experiences, as trauma is passed on generationally as well. I often quote Ralfee Finn, whose motto is “you can’t heal what you can’t feel.” 

Mindfulness and meditation can be a pathway for how feeling can lead to healing. Meditation does not start with clearing our mind of thoughts. It starts with arriving and being present in our bodies. Our bodies are where this backlog of unprocessed emotions is stored. 

You might start with connecting with the sensation of your seat supporting you, and your breath as it goes in and out. This helps you to arrive in and connect with your body. Our bodies tell the stories of our feelings and experiences, even if we don’t remember them specifically, even if they didn’t happen in our own lifetime. When an emotion arises, the practice is to be in your body, locate where it might be held in your body, breathe into it, and create space around that feeling. Our usual habit is to contract away from uncomfortable or painful sensations, which can actually create more pain and discomfort. Essential to the practice of healing is to bring love and compassion to the experience.

This can be an intense practice and requires support. We need to fill up our wells regularly in order to have the energy and resilience to be with suffering in order to transform and heal it. Daily practices to nourish joy—formal or informal—are essential. This may include being in nature, laughing and playing with friends and loved ones, dancing, painting, making music, reading something lighthearted or inspiring—whatever you enjoy! It can be helpful to connect with something or someone that feels loving or supportive when you practice with contacting the wounds, suffering, or intense emotions within you. This may include however you experience the Divine, your favorite place in nature, the warmth and friendliness of a mentor, loved one, or pet. Call in spiritual support to be with you as you practice contacting what is difficult within you. 

In order for healing to happen, we shift our focus from the outer experience (the story of what happened) to the inner experience—the emotion, the reactivity, the contraction—the sensations, however they show up in our bodies. Is it hot? Cold? Is there a vibration? Is there numbness? Do you feel it in your belly? Chest? Throat? If we give ourselves enough space and time to really be with the sensations and shower them with love, understanding, and compassion, they begin to unwind and transform. There is often a tenderness that emerges out of this practice, an opening up to life itself. The difficulty may still be there, but our resistance to it (which is usually what causes the most suffering) can lessen. 

This practice is never “one and done.” Life continues, emotions arise and recede, and the practice of transforming suffering and being present for ourselves and others doesn’t have an endpoint. But it can bring more peace and meaning to our lives, and help us contribute to collective healing and transformation, so needed in the midst of polycrisis.