4th of July Reflections

Image Credit: 13727007 © W.scott Mcgill | Dreamstime.com

Happy 248th birthday America!

You expansive, bullying, abundant, beautiful, hypocritical, brazen, brave, dangerous, ignorant, exciting country that I call home.

It’s so stressful living in the United States as a brown-skinned woman. Especially now.

As a massage therapist, my intent is to help people release tension and bounce back from stress. If the resources I provide help them gracefully manage situations that used to stress them out, so much the better.

I need to be in the proper headspace myself, and that’s perfectly easy when life throws softballs. 

But then there’s now. 

The political landscape is terrifying. Children are losing their lives to gun violence in their schools. A global pandemic is barely in the rearview mirror. Women’s reproductive rights are under siege. Black voting rights are still challenged in sneaky ways that the current generation may not even detect. People I know are facing financial and career hardships and their ability to recover is uncertain. Climate disruption is planetary and it’s all so overwhelming. 

So, what now, America? What are you going to do about it? 

What now, April? What am I going to do about it?

This is a big question that could make me feel pretty small. But I am not without a voice. 

I know there’s power in prayer. Lots of people dismiss it, but several sacred texts tell us, “As above, so below.” It may mean different things to different people, but to me, it means we have to speak our words with intention to manifest our desires. Our spoken word calls the energy from the quantum field to show up in our physical reality.

For America’s birthday, I’d like to invite everyone within reach of my words to carve out a few minutes at the same time. If you’d like to join me virtually, send me an email so I can send you a calendar invite.

We’ll do the following:

Thursday July 4th at 7:04am 

1. Light a candle with gratitude for light and heat
2. Sit comfortably with your feet on the ground with gratitude for the earth
3. Take four deep breaths, hold each breath to a count of four, and exhale through your mouth to a count of four.
4. With each breath in, imagine you’re inhaling harmonious balance
5. With each breath out, imagine you’re sending harmonious balance.
6. Place your right hand over your heart. 
7. Picture the one person you love most. Kindle and stoke that love until you feel it bursting inside you.
8. Channel that love energy to your own heart.
9. Say, “May I be happy. May I be healed.”
10. Channel that love energy to the people living under your roof.
11. Say, “May you be happy. May you be healed.”
12. Channel that love energy to your whole community.
13. Say, “May we be happy. May we be healed.”
14. Channel that love energy to the whole United States (people, animals, natural resources). Spend as much time as you need to on this step.
15. Say, “May our country be happy. May our country be healed.”

Thank you God. Amen.

Blow out your candle when you feel the prayer has been heard and acknowledged. Be filled with gratitude for being heard. It is done.

Share a photo of your lit candle in the comments.

In the meantime, if your 4th of July traditions include fireworks, be mindful of the effects on animals. Here are tips from America’s veterinarians.