Ep 104: Calm, Compassion, Clarity: Election 2024

I’m excited to share with you this special episode featuring bite-sized messages from past podcast guests with practices to help us stay grounded, find calm, and regulate our nervous systems in these final days leading up to the 2024 U.S. election!

The inspiration for it…

A few weeks ago, amid some election anxiety and inspired by my friend Katie Hanus, I committed to just 10 minutes of meditation. Lying on my back, I looked up at the wind moving through a beautiful redwood tree in my backyard. As I watched, I listened to the sound of a nearby wind chime. My breath began to slow, my racing thoughts calmed, and I could think and feel more clearly again. If you want a little taste of this moment, you can watch the video I shared on Instagram @mothersquestpod

These are wild, heartbreaking, hopeful, and scary times, and the stakes are high. There is tragedy abroad and in our own communities, and it often feels like democracy itself is on the line. Mothers in my circle, especially, are trying to figure out how to show up for our children, contribute to this election, care for ourselves, and weave together a stronger community.

That moment under the redwood tree reminded me of the importance of finding calm and clarity within the storm. So, I reached out to a few of my amazing podcast guests for some perspectives and practices we can use during this time. I invite you to listen, try some of the practices in real-time as you do, and consider adding one or more of these to your daily routine.

I’m grateful to Valarie Kaur, Dr. Elisa Song, Jamie Greenwood, Dr. Avanti Kumar-Singh and Jenjii Hysten for saying “yes ” to my invitation when I reached out in need and sharing these thoughtful contributions with us. I encourage you to follow them and tune into my past podcast episodes with them for more wisdom. After listening, I felt more calm, clear and ready to contribute.

If you listened to this episode and try any of the practices they recommend, I’d love to know how they are supporting you. Share in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group or on instagram and tag me @mothersquestpod. I’d also love to hear any of your own practices or those you’ve learned from others that are helping you.

Ending with a reminder that we do not have to do this alone and some words I wrote in a Medium post I referenced from 2016. After getting support then, much like I just did now, I shared… “I feel like I am breathing now for the first time in over a week, and though moments of fear, sadness and outrage still come, instead of pushing them down, I am breathing them in, mixing them with equal parts hopefulness and love, and a commitment to do my part to take action.”

Topics Discussed:

• Valerie Kaur guides us through a powerful meditation to connect with our full range of emotions, including grief and anger

• Dr Elisa Song shares a simple yet effective mindfulness practice called "Stop, Look, and Listen" that both kids and adults can use

• Jamie Greenwood offers invitations for self-compassion, finding joy during chaotic times and catching our breath 

• Dr. Avanti Kumar-Singh teaches us how to use breathwork to gain clarity when focusing on the inhale and calm by focusing on the exhale

• Jenjii Hysten shares three profound life lessons birthed from grief and challenge 

 

About Valarie Kaur:

VALARIE KAUR is a renowned civil rights leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, educator, innovator, author of the #1 LA Times Bestseller SEE NO STRANGER, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. Valarie burst into global consciousness when her 2016 Watch Night Service address went viral with 40 million views worldwide. Her question “Is this the darkness of the tomb – or the darkness of the womb?” reframes the historical moment and is now a mantra for people fighting for change.

Valarie became an activist when a Sikh father and family friend Balbir Singh Sodhi was the first person murdered in hate violence in the aftermath of 9/11. For two decades, in his memory, Valarie led visionary campaigns to tell untold stories and change policy on issues ranging from hate crimes to digital freedom. Her work ignited a national movement to reclaim love as a force for j