From Shampinyada,
I'm Colleen Thomas.
This is Everyday Magic for Ukraine.
Today we honor acts of kindness in times of crisis.
Welcome to the circle.
Welcome to Everyday Magic for Ukraine where we honor Ukraine and we also practice self-care to stay strong as allies.
If you're new here,
Welcome.
So,
What is our object today?
The object today is very simple.
The only item we need is your heart.
And speaking of the heart,
Perhaps we can take a moment to connect,
A moment to breathe or feel into our hearts.
So just notice what that feels like for you.
Just gently beginning to connect with your heart.
Gently beginning to notice your body,
Your present moment,
And then how does your heart feel?
In your body and in your present moment.
And you're welcome to allow this to be a very gentle exploration,
A very gentle greeting of your heart.
Noticing the field of the heart.
You have your energetic field around your body,
Your energy body,
Or your aura,
And your heart is a part of that.
So just a very gentle touching in with the heart as we begin today.
And maybe while you're connecting with your heart,
Take a breath.
Maybe if that feels good to you,
Maybe consider taking your seat in your mind's eye in the circle with all of the rest of us who are here with you,
Listening and connecting with our hearts.
It's important for you to remember that any time you come to circle,
You are welcome.
And as we say in circle,
You are welcome here on the days you feel good,
And you are welcome here on the days you don't feel good.
So just really granting yourself grace and space to be how you are.
Today.
And now that we're connected with the heart energy,
Let's consider our focus for today.
Honoring acts of kindness in times of crisis.
You may have been following the story of the fires in Los Angeles,
And you have no doubt seen certainly on social media,
There are many posts of people going out to rescue animals,
Of people supporting each other,
Of finding low-rent places for people to live,
Of people checking on each other,
Of people going back for neighbors.
It puts me in mind of the kindness we've seen in times of crisis in Ukraine.
During the Khovka Dam flood,
There were people rescuing animals.
There are people showing up to help one another find a way to heal from some of the horrible things they've been through in the war.
There are therapists being trained in trauma sensitivity.
How can I be more sensitive?
How can I have more skills to help more people?
Sometimes when we see things unfolding in the world that are horrible or unfair,
We can also notice that other people are helping.
And that puts me in mind of what Mr.
Rogers used to say,
Look for the helpers.
When you see a fire,
When you see an emergency,
And it's scary sometimes to see that for children and for adults,
It's very scary to see that these things are happening or to live through these things happening.
And he would say,
Look for the helpers.
And there are so many of them once we start looking for them.
Because luckily there are people around the outside of these horrible situations who are still resourced enough to lean in to help,
Who are still connected with their heart energy enough to have extra energy to reach out to help someone else.
These are the kinds of acts of kindness I would like us to focus on today.
Maybe now in your own mind,
Think of an act of kindness that you've seen.
Maybe this was recent or maybe it was a while ago.
Maybe it was something you saw on TV or social media,
Or maybe it was something you lived through.
And remember,
If you can,
How you felt when you were aware of maybe just at first the crisis,
And then when you became aware of the act of kindness.
Or if you experienced it all at one time,
How did it feel to witness and to see that act of kindness within that time of crisis?
What was the energetic sense of it?
What was the vibration?
Did that act of kindness have extra power because of the situation?
And if you could bring that person here with you now,
That person who offered that act of kindness,
What would you say to them?
This might be an act of kindness offered to you or to someone else.
But if you could be with that person or those people who offered that act of kindness,
What would you say?
If you could really open your heart to them and tell them your truth,
And tell them what that act of kindness meant to you,
How it landed in your heart to witness it,
What would you say?
Let's just play with this for another moment of imagining being with this person and offering them our response to their act of kindness.
And now perhaps we could take the energy and maybe the gratitude that we're feeling toward this person for this beautiful act of kindness in the time of crisis,
Open it up and begin to send that energy out into the world.
It's kind of radiating out from us,
Radiating out from our hearts,
From your heart,
From my heart,
Radiating out into the world,
The whole world,
Including Ukraine,
Including LA,
Including everywhere else in the world where crises may be happening.
Emboldening and hopefully empowering more people to find it within themselves to offer acts of kindness.
Just offering so much gratitude that we live in a world where,
Yeah,
Horrible things happen,
But there are also the helpers.
There are people who care,
Who will show up,
Who will help.
Isn't it wonderful to live in a world where that is true as opposed to the opposite,
Which would be so awful?
We live in a world that is rich in kindness,
Especially when we start to look for it,
Especially when we start to look for the helpers.
And maybe take a breath now and just release this sending out.
We'll begin to close our meditation for today.
So beginning to come back to your space,
Beginning to come back to your day or your night.
May we remember that we are in fact surrounded by kindness.
May it be so.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Your presence,
Your energy,
And your heart make all the difference in healing our world.
Remember to breathe today.
Breathe and expand.
And I hope you join us again next time.
Please consider inviting a friend.
