During these moments when daylight and darkness are in balance, it’s a great time to ask yourself: Am I in balance?  Do I use the tools I have? Would encouragement and a little guidance help me remember how to shift from despair to resilience, from hopelessness to harmony?

Being balance—being in balance— is a way to face what’s happening in the world with courage. It’s a way to rally your most loving healing thoughts as often as possible.

For example, when I read the latest news, or when I wake in the night (neither of them pleasant!), I go into my heart and pour my radiant light into the Cauldrons of Love I mentioned last week, filling them. That simple focus empowers me to keep going, to shift from fear into healing.  It doesn’t fix everything (nothing does) but gives me agency and brings me to a place of compassion rather than anxiety.

Meditations like the Cauldrons of Love are one of the ways I teach peace and open-heartedness. I bow to my own teachers, from Joanna Macy and Goenka-Ji to Dona Bernadina and Pachamama, for guiding me away from despair into empowerment, and for teaching how to witness the burdens and suffering of the world without carrying them on my shoulders. Sure, I still fall prey to all that. But practicing, getting support from others, and building feedback loops help me shift gears. When tools and practices are so embedded we do them automatically, we get better and better at coming back into open-heartedness.

You might be thinking, “I can’t do that!” But guess what—you CAN!