I feel very stoic as I sit here absorbed in the news of the shooting at the Ft Lauderdale airport. It’s only been 4 months since the scare at the LA airport where I found myself, at the terminal where the shooter was reported, hiding in a very eery silence with fellow passengers on a greasy kitchen floor of a restaurant. It turned out that their really wasn’t a shooter that day, but the fear I felt was very real.
As a yoga teacher and practitioner I’ve worked very hard to live in the present moment. I’ve worked very hard to be the witness, to be aware, but unattached to whats going on. I feel very grounded, and most people say they feel calm when they are around me, or calm by just listening to my broadcast. But in those moments at the airport that day, even though I paused to think, and then react, my body was doing it’s own kind of reaction. I could feel my heart beating faster, and I was aware that my mind was becoming clouded, as I waited in a kind of blankness.
I guess we never really know how we’re going to react. Most of us can’t even possibly imagine what daily life would be like with the daily trauma in a city under siege, or in daily efforts to survive and rebuild after a devastating hurricane.
What I do know, not to minimize any tragedy, is to achieve any type of peace, in our minds, our bodies, and especially deep in our soul, that the peace must begin within. It must begin with me, with you, with every individual. We owe it to ourselves and to those around us to cultivate this peace. To allow it to grow, to flower, and to prosper. It’s a gift to ourselves and to mankind as a whole. Because we really are all connected.
So take care of you. Find time to pause and breathe and meditate. Make a promise to yourself, with every action that you take, to mindfully be at peace in each and every moment. Nurture yourself and let peace begin here.
Just a thought… With Love, Donna
Originally published at medium.com