The yoga studio or mediation hall is not the most appropriate place for political debate. However, these practices have great tools to offer and can serve as a message of peace as we navigate political upheaval. Yoga and meditation can teach us to stay grounded when the ground feels groundless. The practice can teach us to keep our hearts open in the face of diversity and adversity. The practice can help us to widen our circle of compassion beyond those in our immediate circle and fuel a passion to stand up for the rights of all beings.
Up to 100,000 people have gathered at the Wisconsin state capitol, rallying each day against a bill that threatens to strip union collective bargaining, restrict voting, take away vital state aid and health benefits, and sell off power plants on no-bid offers. If you read the bill you discover it is filled with hidden agendas. Meanwhile, the Governor has said he will not negotiate and the democratic senators have fled the state in order to slow it all down.
If you wind up the marble stairs to the third floor west balcony you will come upon those sitting in solidarity, meditating to increase peace and compassion. We sit every night from 7:30-9:30 pm; people come and go, and each day several more sit. Many who haven’t sat before, but are curious, join in too. If you can sit and breathe, you can meditate. The energy is high and the drums are loud–there is not a moment of quiet, yet the deep stillness that can be experienced as your bones vibrate from the sounds of drums and chanting moving through you is profound. The beauty of hearing thousands of people singing the national anthem or chanting, “What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like!” brings forth a deep well of joy and hope. To see how our community and communities across the nation have come together in peace to stand up against this bill makes me proud to be a Wisconsinite and part of the global community protesting peacefully for change.