A Mindfulness Toolkit: Election Day Edition
with so much in the air, some reminders for getting grounded.
Hi friends!
This post is about mindfulness as the penultimate spoke I’ll cover on the eightfold path.
With election anxiety in the air and the world feeling more precarious than ever, it's easy to get swept away by fear, frustration, or helplessness. Trust me, I feel it too. Democracy sure damn seems like its dimming.
Eight years ago, I was teaching “Performing Politics, Political Performance” at UCLA. In fact, we had analyzed Kamala Harris’ senatorial debate, wherein her opponent dabbed. The morning after the 2016 election, we mused about logic and ethos. About pathos and fear. About kairos—that of-the-moment-ness that Obama, Reagan, and JFK had in spades. And…Trump?
I scooped myself.
Mindfulness basics have always been a balm when I’ve been stressed or upset. The same teacher might teach the same element differently from one time to the next, so nothing felt “old.” These are familiar lessons to be learned over and over again.
With this in mind, I thought I’d try my hand at covering the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. I offer them as a toolkit for navigating the times ahead.
Mindfulness of Thoughts
Everything is impermanent. Practice gentle curiosity about your thoughts without clinging. They are real, valid, but they may not be true.
A popular phrase in meditation circles: “Right now, it’s like this.” Appreciate what you can, whenever you can, because “this” will become “that” in the next moment.
I remember sitting in the Melrose location of Against the Stream, with JoAnna Hardy suggesting we look at thoughts like passing clouds.
Can you relate to this thought with curiosity?
“Am I in control of my mind, or is this thought holding me hostage?”
Watch your mind passively, there doesn’t need to be effort.
“‘Hostage’? Is there a hostage situation somewhere now?”
You aren’t in a staring contest with the cloud. You will lose, since clouds have no eyes.
“Why am I even thinking about hostages right now?”
Taking a walk outside is one of my biggest hacks to break a rumination streak.
On the other hand, there are aversive reactions like: “I don’t like that statistic, so poof!”
If this happens, try becoming aware of which thoughts are being included or denied. Some folks might use the word, “abject.” Karen Shimakawa applied this to Asian Americans: a racialized minority whose identity is tied to invisibility in complicated ways. We can literally be on stage, and no one will see us. We can have a presidential nominee, and she can still only be referred to as Black.
Stretch for imagination. Which thoughts or concepts are so far outside your usual thinking that you don’t even realize you’ve excluded them from your awareness?
This is an exercise for all us finite creatures. Imagine the things you haven’t yet or in a very long time. I often remind rhetoric students there are things you know you don’t know, just like there are things you don’t know you don’t know.
When you push things away, what does your disengagement serve? Your current needs and well-being is a good enough answer.
You might instead bring your attention to your breath or take a walk to spend some time exploring feelings.
Mindfulness of Feelings
Fear. Hatred. Greed. Confusion and lack of clarity. Intentional misleading. Unintentional dissemination of false information. It feels overwhelming.
Emotions are yours to address, but they are not you.
Sadness is something you experience, not something that defines who you are. You feel sadness, but you are not a sad person. The distinction helps in allowing the emotion to pass without attaching to it. This linguistic distinction (“yours” not “you”) may seem small, but it carries major connotations. On the other hand, you are human. You are good enough.
If you are someone who works with self-doubt, track your feelings over time. I’ve previously shared my daily emotional inventory. This kind of thing can help you see patterns and trends for yourself and to share with your mental health provider.
Remember challenging emotions arise to protect you. No emotion is “bad” or, even, “negative.” Some are more challenging than others. They all belong. And it’s okay to step back if your emotions become overwhelming.
Listen to your body: rest when it needs it. And, likely, your body needs it.
Mindfulness of Body
Mindfulness of the body turns toward sensory details—understanding the language of your body and giving it the space to speak can lead to greater ease.
How does your body feel?
If focusing on your body feels uncomfortable or overwhelming, that’s okay. You might try bringing your awareness to something neutral, like your breath or the sounds around you. Where does it not hurt?
Maybe the base of your skull? Your ear lobes? Your fourth toe on the right foot?
Can you feel the texture of your clothes against your skin?
I’m still learning embodied safety and comfort. I think many people assigned female at birth, socialized as women, can feel uncomfortable in their bodies, queer, disabled, of color, or not, all have interesting relationships with their bodies. They’ve each needed to forge their own understanding of their bodies in the face of cultures that tell them they’re never enough.
Just walking down the street. Just stepping on a scale. Just looking at your face in one of those 10x mirrors that make 100% of people look 0% good.
Students apologizing for being sick has resurfaced this year. I used to tell students not to apologize for being sick because it makes them look suspicious. Why would you apologize for being ill? That’s not your fault.
Now, I’ve taken up Sonia Renee Taylor’s The Body is Not an Apology mantra. Your body does not need an apology to do its thing. It is your right and responsibility to take care of yourself. Yes, I still need a doctor’s note.
Your body is divine. Befriend it.
There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge—even wisdom. Like art.
— Toni Morrison
Mindfulness of Rising Phenomena
How are your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations interfacing with the external world? There’s a tool for that.
For me, this fourth foundation of mindfulness represents “LISTEN UP. IT’S WILD OUT THERE.” It empowers us to stay aware of how our inner experiences—thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations—interact with the world around us.
This fourth foundation of mindfulness reminds practitioners of shared struggles (the five Hindrances), shared wants (aggregates), previously shared tools (awakening factors, like equanimity, joy), and everything within the Noble Truths. This includes this tip, the six prior, and the final one: concentration.
This is basically the kitchen sink.
With one somehow-legitimate candidate promising the November 5th election will be the last, it certainly feels like kitchen sink times.
I want to just remind anyone reading that things are naturally complex. Often there are no “solutions,” only strategies and, sometimes, we’re lucky to have forethought for tactics.
But now you have a utility belt of mindfulness strategies: investigating thought, feeling, bodily sensations, and how this is all jiving with the world. Use whatever works for you. Metta can be a discipline.
I don’t know what’s coming up.
For that reason, I’m imagining the world I want and building it one step, one moment of forgiveness, one vote to retain a free press in this post-truth era at a time. Wanna join?
Dine-In or Takeaway Reflections
How will you be spending Election Night?
Takeaway Practice
As explored, mindfulness helps us stay present with thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Compassion and metta practice—sending and receiving unconditional friendliness—is a natural complement.
Exercise your kindness muscle. Not to get stronger, but because the world is stronger with your kindness in it.
Until my next update, post-election day, catch yourself sending and receiving metta.
What does sending metta mean for you? How do you show it?
I definitely have a stingy streak, but can also struggle with receiving metta.
What would it look like for you to lower your guard just a little bit?
Reminders
Creative Coalition: November 3
The Creative Coalition centers mindful play and respectful engagement. The goal is to leave feeling refreshed and inspired to innovate beyond this space.
Here’s the sign-up link and a time zone converter!
NB: I’m now listing this as a $10 event for non-readers. If you’re a Light Hive subscriber, please just let me know you want to attend and I’ll send you the Zoom link.
Adoptee Alchemy: November 17
Adoptee Alchemy offers adoptee meditators a safe space to discuss engaged mindfulness. No experience is required to join.
NB: I’m now listing this as a $10 event for non-readers. If you’re a subscriber and are yourself adopted, please just let me know you want to attend. I appreciate your readership!
Bio
Logan Juliano, PhD (they/them) is a mindful integration mentor offering 1:1 sessions and group workshops. They currently teach writing at the University of California, Los Angeles and hold an PhD in Performance Studies.
this is great! thanks for putting it together.