I have heard from a number of people about feeling more stressed about the political climate in the United States as the presidential race is heating up. So, I want to address this in terms of Svadhaya, the fourth Niyama (one of the ethical practices of Yoga from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras) which means Self-Study. The practice of it usually involves scripture study, but I’m going to address it as an inward awareness of reactions and taking responsibility for those reactions. Take back your power with Svadhaya.

MY QUESTIONS TO YOU

First, I want to acknowledge if you are immersing yourself daily in news and social media, you are most likely being flooded with highly emotional posts and news clips.

My first question to you is, “What is your reaction when you are reading all of this ‘data?’” If you are getting emotionally charged, in the form of anger, frustration, feeling overwhelmed or anxious, feeling powerless or helpless, etc, pay attention!  Is this where you want to be? It’s easy to blame the media, people who are posting, people who voted, people who don’t vote…and this blame does absolutely nothing for you but cause more distress and suffering. You’re a hamster spinning in the wheel of misery.

These things are not to blame. 

Here’s my second question, “Who is turning on the news, social media and engaging with this ‘data?’” Yep, you. Accept responsibility. This is the only way to take control and take back your power. Blaming is just giving your power away.

So, if you don’t want to keep being fired up and tossed around in the emotional wave that engaging with data from politics is causing you and you are the one choosing to engage with it…what action do you need to take next?

BEING HONEST WITH YOURSELF

Svadhaya is about noticing your reactions, getting curious about those reactions, getting honest about the cause of the reactions (namely coming back to yourself), and then making a conscious choice about the action to take and ultimately how you want to live your life. 

1. Do you know who you are going to vote for? If the answer is, “yes,” then my question to you is why engage at all with the political data?  We all have enough data from our personal life we are working on, so why add to it and increase stress and suffering for no reason? Be kind to yourself and be honest with yourself.

If the answer is, “no,” I highly encourage you to be selective in the time you spend trying to get enough data to make a choice and be selective about the sources of your information.  Stop engaging with the opinions of others. Instead, collect data from your direct experience (like what each candidate may say and do over time) to trust your own wisdom in your choices. Again, be kind to yourself and be honest with yourself.

2. If you have a hard time with limiting screen time/ digital time, explore this. Excessive screen time is an addiction behavior. What are you avoiding or escaping from by numbing out to screen data? How does it affect you emotionally? How does it affect relationships in your life? Do you need to have a digital detox? Again, be kind to yourself and honest with yourself.

3 WAYS TO PRACTICE SVADHAYA

Svadhaya is about using the data you have, from direct experience and trusted resources based in reality and facts, and taking conscious action.  Here are some action practices for Svadhaya that can help with meeting political environment stress or any stressors in our lives:

1. Since there is so much data out there and it’s so easy to engage with, being able to discern (viveka) between data that is uplifting, positive, and helpful to a more calm, content, and joyful peace of mind versus data that causes anger, feeling overwhelmed, and judgmental is important.  Being aware of your reactions will help you with this. Don’t keep engaging with what leads to a more limiting mindset!  You do have a choice in this. This is a conscious and healthy detachment (vairagya).

2. Find clarity about what truly matters in your life.  When you can remind yourself of the 3 most important things in your life, a lot of perceived stress will actually diminish or even disappear. The noise from life can distract us from what is truly important and all the sudden we are focusing on things that really don’t matter much to us in the grand scheme of things. 

One way to do this is simply make a brainstorm list of the things that are important to you and of value to you. Take 5 minutes to do this. Then, review that list and circle the three things that are the most important to you in life or how you want to live your life. Put those three things up so you can be visually reminded of them daily. Let them be your guides for making choices in your life.

3. Come back to what you can control. This can help to be practical. What part of the stressor is in your control right now?  Then, being honest about what you can control, take action in those areas. In regards to the political situation, one concrete step is making sure you have your voice heard by voting. Another step might be doing things like writing letters to encourage others to do the same.  These are actions that are in your control.

The practice of Svadhaya is a lifetime practice and actually a way of life. Can you imagine if everyone practiced being aware and taking responsibility for reactions?