American Born Courageous Desi

Reading the morning news is a daily ritual of mine, but lately it has become a love-hate relationship of sorts. My alarm rings, I press snooze one too many times, and in an attempt to lay under my warm blankets just a few moments longer, I reach for my smartphone. I scroll through the news, emails, weather, and whatever else I can think of to delay getting out of bed and jumping into my fast-paced, non-stop responsibilities as a working mom. My morning ritual of reading the news comes with consequences, aside from just losing a few extra minutes to enjoy my breakfast sandwich. The consequences have been the overwhelming emotional reactions I experience before my day has truly begun. Depending on the story, I may enjoy a sense of pride, excitement, and relief. But those moments of "comfortable emotions" have unfortunately been occurring less in recent months. More often than not, I have been feeling inundated with the “uncomfortable emotions” of frustration, confusion, worry...

Close your eyes... take a deep breath... and try to remember the last time you believed you truly belonged... a time when you knew you fit in, and felt accepted, just as you are. Were you with someone? A parent, grandparent, caregiver, sibling, cousin, friend, teacher, minister, therapist, or beloved pet? Where were you? In a favorite place? Your home, your car, yoga class, the beach, the mountains? Does this exercise bring a smile to your face? A sense of warmth, comfort, and security throughout your body? Or do you find yourself in tears, experiencing pain and hopelessness? This is a guided meditation I use in therapeutic workshops to create awareness of our human need for belonging and connection. Tara Brach, an author, therapist and meditation teacher, often discusses the distressful experience of severed belonging, when one perceives a loss in acceptance and connection to others. Belonging, acceptance, and connection are some of our most basic human psychological needs acco...