When the vortex of chaos in the world draws us in, we need an exit strategy. Whether it's work, newsfeeds bringing tragedies into our lap, personal stress, or the simple truth that living well is hard, we have to find a way back to peaceful shores.
Fighting against the noise and confusion feels like you are just swimming with a riptide that only carries you further out. So how can we feel the peace that passes understanding? How can we feel our hearts beating at the pace of love and not fear? When and where can we find stillness in the midst of a spinning world? Libraries are filled with books and millennia of practices. Friends today will say breathe, take a walk, unplug from technology. That is all good advice. But in moments where I have felt disquieted, anxious, and fearful, I might hold my breath so I don't start crying. I might check my emails way too often to see if someone has gotten back to me. I might feel so tired I sit on the couch and watch something mindless instead of taking a walk in the woods. I have special compassion for those who are going through tough times and whose default isn't to land on a yoga mat. But here is my one thing I hope to offer to this lifelong habit of returning to ourselves in a peaceful way. Dab oil onto your body.
Over the past decades as I have worked alongside women and communities in trauma and learned more about my own, oil has been a companion that can bring me back to myself. When I breathe in lavender soaked in coconut, dab it on my hands, and lift it to my face I feel better. It’s why I started a justice enterprise with healing oils at the center.
When the world fills my inbox with so much noise I can't get a thought in edgewise, I retreat to my bathtub—where I am composing this note to you—with fragrant water from the drops of my favorite recipe (shared with you below). We got this. You got this. You are beloved and worthy.
I invite you to create a space on your peaceful shore to dream, think, and breathe.
PEACE AND LOVE,
Becca