The World is Suffering

One evening last week, I was scrubbing the dinner  dishes. The kids voices could be heard in the background, occasional shrieks of laughter erupted as they ran past. It was a perfectly normal night. Suddenly, I had the most unsettling feeling sweep over me. People in Syria were dying. People were screaming and hunkering down in their homes as bombs shook their city at the exact same moment as I stood at the sink pushing wasted food down the drain – people were DYING! It was a moment of pure awareness that left me cold.

I don’t have television, so I’ve been spared repeated images of the horror happening in Homs, Syria, but I have the Internet. The words I read and the few photos I saw were enough to haunt me. Feelings of helplessness engulfed me. Everything I’ve ever taken for granted came showering over me. But most of all, I couldn’t help imaging what it would be like to know at any second I would be killed. Or, what it would be like to hold my little girls with my arms wrapped tight around them knowing my embrace was my only defense. Yoga teaches us how to become more aware and through awareness we become more compassionate-but knowing what to do with this awareness and compassion becomes the real test.

My heart goes out to the innocent people of Homs. I’m sending love through my meditations and daily thoughts, though it doesn’t seem enough. I ask you to pause, FEEL and remember that your worst day probably isn’t close to the hell these people are living in right now.

I’m sending PEACE! Please do the same. Maybe we can contribute to a loving shift through our shared world!

Namaste.