As the world grapples with the shift toward social isolation, managing pandemic-related stress, and an uncertain future, we at Wanderlust know that our greatest strengths are the wisdom of our leaders and the power of community.
We have reached out to the lighthouses in our teaching community to share some succinct, actionable insights with our community, as well as to call on us to be bold and envision how this shift can create a better world. Because extraordinary times call for extraordinary leadership.
COPING IN THE PRESENT
These times are challenging for sure. I don’t mean to diminish the amount of suffering out there physically and financially, but I do see a massive silver lining.
The foundation for happiness to me is an intimate connection with nature. I have often said that the more we blur the line between where we end and where nature begins, the happier we will be. This is especially true these days as our financial engine comes to a halt and fear becomes the new normal.
I turn off my news alerts and make the time to download the doctrine of the beautiful into my heart each day. I start my mornings early under the stars in Bali. I light a candle and ground. I breathe slowly, sit on the ground and feel the vibration of this planet. My litmus test for whether I am present or not is, do I hear to the song of the birds? I just relax and let them sing them sing directly to my heart.
On the best of days, it helps to set my head straight, but as we all reduce our carbon footprint to close to zero you can almost hear the Earth exhale. I would advise everyone to take joy in the small things. Each flower, each breath and each cloud.
Oddly, the universe works in strange ways because two years ago almost to the day, I decided to radically cut back on my travel so I could live here in Bali where I can surf, live a simple life with my family and write books. I wanted to live in harmony with the moon and the tides. I asked destiny to help me make it happen.
We didn’t plan on staying here but our flights were canceled and somehow, we ended up in the exact same villa we were living in two years ago. Our circle is small. We eat healthy food from local farmers and creative juices are flowing.
ANSWERING THE CALL
This is an unprecedented time where the whole world has been asked by Mother Nature to stop and go to our rooms and think about the path we are on.
I feel people are going to go one of two ways. One is to resort back to tribalism, to take no ownership for the pandemic and blame others for their suffering. They will disconnect from others who don’t think like them and face the situation with anger and hostility.
But there is a massive chance to push the needle in the other direction and realize the gifts that have been offered to us here. As we press pause, we notice the profound degree that we are all interconnected. We have seen incredible acts of kindness in the emergency rooms and in our neighborhoods. Not many of us will take time with loved ones for granted anymore.
Nor will we take nature for granted anymore. My biggest hope is that we realize that we reassess our role we have with nature. When we deplete our soils, fill our shelves with processed food and fill our markets with animals living and pooing on top of each other, it’s obvious that we have become to busy or too disconnected to care about our impact on the planet. As a species have lost our internal compass to feel what is right anymore.
The big ask from our current situation is to shift from the illusion that we are the master to a guest on this planet. As Chief Seattle reminds us, “We did not weave the web of life, but we are merely a strand.” In so many ways, we have fallen out of balance with nature.
It is so interesting to me that the one major shift we all need to make is to reduce our carbon footprint. This we have to do in a big way.
Eoin Finn is a globally renowned yogi, surfer and Blissologist who has been carving his original tracks through the metaphysical worlds of yoga, philosophy and movement since 1989.
Lauded by Yoga Journal as the “Thoreau of Yoga” for his eco-activism and dedication to connecting yogis more deeply to the spirituality of nature; and by Oprah as “one to watch,” Finn’s Blissology Yoga style centers on the simple idea of sharing happiness.
While rooted deeply in the therapeutic and transformative alignment and physiology of yoga, Finn’s down to earth, modern insights on spirituality refresh like cool water and he firmly believes that to find bliss you must “seek quiet solitude in nature.”
A passionate ocean-activist, he started the Blissology EcoKarma project in 2014 raising aid and awareness through yoga and activism for the world’s precious but imperiled coral reefs.
Connect with Eoin on his website, on Instagram and view his Introduction to Blissology on Wanderlust TV.