With the midterm elections surrounding us, I’ve been reflecting on the challenges I feel when it comes to engaging with democracy in this country right now. Sometimes I am all moral outrage and calling my representatives and going to rallys. Sometimes, I am overwhelmed, exhausted and scared so I shut down completely. I ignore it all.

In that extreme vasciliation, I find myself often thinking, “am I crazy???” And that, my friends, is the number one sign that you are being gaslit.

You aren’t crazy.

Democracy is hard. Really hard.

And, it is vital that we both pay attention and engage.

Join me for this 3-part meditation series as we explore what’s needed to build Political Resilience.

Today, I am sharing a conversation with a friend, colleague and teacher - Shonali Banerjee.

Many years ago, Shonali led a Mantra Circle that I was a part of, and in it, I learned so much about the power of sound and voice. To this day, one of my strongest memories is chanting the Gayatri mantra along the banks of the Ganges river on a trip to India. And even now, I warm up my voice and set my intention through mantra before teaching live classes.

Shonali is a yoga teacher, singer, ritualist, death doula, and all around Wise Woman. Together we talk about mantra meditation and the power of reclaiming our voices, walking labyrinths, political resilience, the cycle of death and birth, and so much more.

At the end, Shonali guides in a powerful practice of chant and reflection.

Today, 45 years after its launch and 14.6 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 and 2 have now spent 10 years in interstellar space. Interestingly, Voyager 1 went through the Stagnation Layer, and Voyager 2 did not.

Yet, 10 years later, these two spacecraft are in the same place, both doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing, and both wildly, improbably successful. I think there are 3 vital lessons for us within this statement -

Community is vitally important for our movement through Stagnation.

It is our engagement that makes these moments magical and rich rather than scary and confusing.

We don’t need to worry about what anyone else is doing or experiencing within their meditation practice.

As a personal experience, when we stagnate we likely feel an increased pressure to DO something, to figure it out, or to move. And, all our creative mojo feels like it is draining away.

We find ourselves both anxious to move and possibly frozen in place. This is a tricky combination.

Luckily, in these moments, there are ancient and wise teachings that can be so helpful. Even if we know or think we know, it is helpful to hear of the wisdom that has come before.

Of course, what isn’t helpful is buying ALL the books. Or listening to ALL the teachers. This is overwhelming, and very likely frustrating.

Instead, I encourage you to look for what I call ‘Threads of Truth’ - I came up with this term to describe the overarching themes within meditation that continue to appear across time, lineage, and geography.

The words might differ, but the underlying wisdom is clearly the same. And, it is these threads of truth that serve as a compass when we are lost in the Stagnation Layer.

Well friends, after 5 years of creating bi-weekly episodes of The Mindful Minute I am making a shift… As of today, all new mini meditation episodes can be found exclusively within awakenedheart.community.

My Thursday full-length episodes will continue to air as they always do, and I am here for you. Drop me an email or join me within awakenedheart.community so we can have an ongoing conversation.

When you read poetry of the mystics, when you study ancient tantric & Buddhist texts, not to mention so many indigenous cultures across the world, we learn of the universe as a metaphor for the internal experiences of consciousness.

And the more time I spend connecting my meditation practice with the natural world, the more I experience the wisdom of this truth, perhaps never more so than as I reflect on The Stagnation Layer.

Lucky for us, the universe itself is providing the answer for what we do in stagnation, if we only remember to listen.

Deborah Eden Tull guides through a short practice from her new book, Luminous Darkness. This practice is an opportunity to connect with the mystery, with the unknown, and to both offer and receive lovingkindness from this endarkened teacher.

Eden is a dharma teacher, author and spiritual activist. She trained for 7 and a half years as a Buddhist monk at a silent Zen monastery and has taught engaged dharma for over 20 years, and the conversation we share in this episode might be one of my favorite interviews of the year!

I was moved to tears as we talked about endarkenment and wandering off-trail. We explore the realm of dreams, of spiritual bypassing, of the intersection of meditation, nature & social justice, of moral imagination and of rage.

Whew. This conversation is not to be missed!