A Hit of Dopamine!
Dear Friend,
On this last Sunday afternoon the sounds of non-stop sirens, shooting, explosions, car alarms blowing up and looming helicopters rattled my apartment and my heart. My phone was blowing up with text messages from friends, “are you OK?”. “We’re watching the news, it’s right by your place in downtown Santa Monica, it looks so scary!!”.
I didn’t need to turn on the TV, as I am able to see everything from my balcony. Looters running around my street, and some hiding in the empty lot next to my building. Teargas was blowing up in the air and the sound of shooting was piercing through my ears. I can smell the smoke coming from of the local businesses that were set on fire, as I watch the national guard block down my street. At one point there was a military tank in front of my building. I get another text from a friend with an image of my building on the news.
I was on my hands and knees on my living room floor, uncontrollably shaking to my bones and sobbing. I felt terror and hopelessness but mostly I felt so alone in this world. It was suddenly dark outside and I noticed that I have been crying for nine straight hours. I paused and wondered if that was a normal reaction, what is normal in a situation like this? Was this my PTSD, is a past trauma being triggered by the sound of violence and rage? During my upbringing in Yemen I had experienced two civil wars. People we know, friends, family members and classmates died. We had no access to water or electricity for months. A can of tuna was $200. There was no gas in the gas stations, and nowhere for us to hide and find shelter.
I started receiving an inner message that kept saying “meditate” “sit still”. I wondered, can I find refuge in my breath? Would meditation work in an extreme situation like this? Would I be able to still my mind and calm my nervous system while hearing the police yell from the microphone of a helicopter that is rattling and looming over my building “there’s nowhere to run! You are all going to jail”?
So I gave it a try. I sat on a chair with the tears still uncontrollably pouring down my cheeks. I didn’t even bother to wipe them off, as my shirt got soaked wet. I started to breathe very slowly and deeply. With no intention to escape or completely fix or change my current state, as I did not want to spiritually bypass what I was experiencing and shove it down. I set an intention to accept it, allow it and that if I can feel just 5% calmer, that it would be enough for me to sleep throughout the night. So I kept breathing, and breathing. No specific yogic technique, no mantra, no hand gestures. Just breathing slow, deep and steady. One breath after another.
I eventually came out of meditation and realized that I have been meditating for two straight hours. I was completely calm and experienced a sense of clarity. Because of my meditation, I was able to cultivate enough awareness to realize that I was not alone in this fear, and definitely not alone in this world. That there were others experiencing the same fears or even more. I started reaching out to my neighbors and to my friends to check in on them and make sure that everybody was OK. I finally fell asleep, and was able to sleep throughout the whole night even though the horrific sound of the war zone that was happening outside was still going on. I woke up with a sense of mission, how can I be of service to others during this time? How can I step outside of my own fear loop and show up for others who need me.
So I put on my face mask and my gloves. I grabbed a bucket and put all the cleaning supplies that I have in it, and marched down the streets to help clean up my community. I was in complete awe to see others do the same. People from all across the city coming to help clean up. It opened up my wounded heart to see the powerful force of love in action.
We are all one. We are all in this together. Only in unity we rise. To continue delivering on my mission of being in service to my fellow humans. I can only offer you what I personally know to be true. If you spend time consistently cultivating benevolent qualities through meditation, benevolence will exist through you and will spread around you. To help guide you through your own journey of cultivating peace and benevolence, for 24 hours only, I offer you Just Breathe, my 21 day meditation and breathwork practice for just $1, and it is yours to forever keep. Feel free to spread the love and share this with friends. From my heart to yours.
Much love and gratitude to you! 🙏🏼💕✨
Maha Bodhi
Your Teacher
Maha Bodhi (Yoga Instructor and Inspirational Speaker IG: @YogiMaha108)
After surviving a brutal upbringing of being enslaved as a female in Yemen, forced into arranged marriage twice, surviving multiple death threatening situations, and two civil wars before arriving in the U.S., Maha found her freedom and true self through the practice of yoga, and is dedicating her entire life to spread the teachings of yoga, yoga philosophy, meditation, breathwork and overall mindfulness techniques.
Maha Bodhi is the creator of the 10-day chakra balancing online yoga program, Master The Flow of Life. She is an inspirational leader and offers speaking engagements, mindfulness workshops, and is featured in the upcoming HBO documentary, Scars Unseen.
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