Signs of spring wink and smile at me in harsh contrast to the anger and heartbreak I feel, grappling with the reality of the US instigating war in Iran, domino effecting so much unfolding violence. I’m heartbroken, devastated, and so mad. This has come on top of so much else (eclipse week hiii!)… it’s just so much to hold.

When chaos hits the fan, I’m especially grateful for yoga, but also for rad, sweet yoga community – for the solidarity and support that happens when people like us gather to practice together.

Saturday I felt really fractured as I started class, but being able to show up with my grief and fear, no grand analysis or answers, but to come together for practice and be able to be real – that was quenching for some inner thirst. We need relationships and spaces like that, where we can show up unmasked, honest, and turn towards the suffering in our selves and the world with presence and kindness together, alongside others.

Some yoga spaces keep to an (often unsaid) rule to not bring the ‘political’ into the space. I am glad to the co-creating sangha space with you, where we can acknowledge what’s raw, what’s up, knowing we are not separate from the conditions we are in.

We are in this mess together, and so we are part of the solutions, together.

It’s been strengthening this week to log on to the zoom for yoga, and have a shared space to face it together, talk some, breathe, feel the feelings, re-root, and break the spell of feeling alone in it all.

 When something ‘works’ I like to get curious, reverse engineer it, find some breadcrumbs to follow next time I’m lost in the dark. I’ve gathered a few to share with you:

Here’s 6 reasons to

COME TO YOGA…

…ideally, with me, and soon! during these intense times. 

1. Remembering Our Power

Yoga’s tools were forged to help us meet moments like these. Perhaps our souls too, are alive in these times on purpose. Here to hold the line, turn towards suffering with compassion and solidarity, here to fight the good fight.

Like Arjuna gazing out to the battlefield, we know to not act is also an action; all our actions have consequences. Let this be a reminder that we always, as long as we are alive, have power, and that how we live life is influencing the future. Our thoughts, words actions are seeds planted. May we find courage in that we are continuing to build towards a better future, take care of our selves and each other, no matter what.

On the level of the nervous system, functional asana directly allows us to rewire our patterns. This means, more agency, less fear-based autopilot. Yoga is literally a practice of staying grounded and present so that you can respond instead of reactto what arises with love and skill.

Asana is a way to reclaim our power, to re-center, sharpen the blade of our mind, soften our heart, and do the needful.

Call your reps, speak up, discern what is your offering, yours to do.

As Magi said in Fern Gully, “We all have power, and when we share it, it grows…”

Practicing asana and then feeling how much better you feel after is a psycho-somatic reminder that you can affect positive change. At a time when things can feel hopelessly out of control, reminding ourselves and each each other where we dohave power, where we can take action, can in an of itself be a nourishing, active resistance.

2. Avoid Numbing Out, Overwhelm and Apathy: Bolster Your Capacity with Real Rest

Exhaustion may be most obvious in your body, but it affects your mind and your senses too – and these jnanendriyas have a huge effect on how you feel, and how you perceive reality. Deep, real rest for your body, mind, and emotions replenishes like nothing else – and even if you’re someone who has a hard time relaxing, you CAN access deep, healing rest with practice and the right support.

My Tuesday night Restorative classes are an amazing, accessible resource! When you give your body and mind the time to really let go, soften, and melt, it’s miraculous how much can shift. The poses, guided relaxation, and breath explorations in these classes can be life changing.

With regular practice, deep rest creates a powerful shield of protection. It re-connects you to the inner wellspring of vitality and capacity. Letting go is key to creating space for the goodness ready to emerge inside you. Practicing letting go somatically is a way to access soothing relief on the days you need it most.

3. Strength and Stability 

…fortify your inner reserves. Specifically, the joint stability we explore in every Iyengar Yoga class I teach has an immediate positive impact on your sense of being grounded, confident, secure, and able to stand tall on your own two legs.

Physical stability directly offers us emotional stability.

The people pushing for war use fear to coerce the public. By practicing asana for stability, we can stand strong against fear mongering, and have more energy to take action to disrupt harm.

All types of asana can be stabilizing. Forward bends soothe your adrenal glands. Inversions drench your inner body with fresh circulation, refresh your brain and stabilize your emotions through hormonal balance. Twists cleanse away tension and free your lungs and digestive system. Chest opening is a natural antidepressant. Savasana allows you to integrate, metabolize, it creates a fresh start. These practices supercharge you, and this goodness is within reach! 

4. Anti-isolation

Practicing yoga pushes back against the energy of “divide and conquer.” Staying connected to your body helps you stay connected to life itself. When you are in your body, connected to the earth, and in the field practicing with others – even online, even on demand! – you are bathing your system in the nourishment of knowing you are not alone.

Your story is part of a much bigger story. You don’t have to carry what’s heavy alone. Our embodied presence, authenticity, action and compassion become stronger as we align with yoga’s ethics of non-violence, ahimsa, and satya, truth. Where we are connected, it’s easier to follow through on responsibilities, show up to care for our selves, close ones, activism, work for a freer world. Yoga gives you the juice to align your actions towards safety and peace in our international community as human beings, all sharing one precious planet.

5. Keep Your Mind Clear, Wide Perspective

Albert Einstein famously said, “no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” Right now is an especially good time to be clear-headed, have space for perspective, and be present to what is emerging. Attention is an also a form of power. How can we stay informed, without drowning?

Yoga offers so many ways to create space between you and your thoughts; you and the external world. Patanjali says much of our suffering comes from our tendency to loose our Self in the mind’s distortions (vrittis). When we are less entangled, we are more clear, critically discerning, understanding.

Continued to notice, interrogate injustice, and speak up. These forms of sadhana – committed practice- nourish your spirit too. Pranayama and asana cleanse our energetic channels (nadis), but ethical actions to disrupt harm and offer care are also cleansing and healing. 

Studying yoga philosophy with friends can be incredibly uplifting and open your mind to other possibilities. We have access to beautiful, practical teachings in the Yoga Sutras and other sacred texts that have been around for thousands of years before AI, attention algorithms, and the current structures that govern information and knowledge. What’s in there?! SO much cool stuff…

By building new neural pathways through somatic asana practice, mindfulness, and also by exploring new concepts of what is real, we can continue to increase our capacity to face what is happening right now while keeping a sense of long-range vision, possibility, perspective, and grounding. 

6. Long-term Resilience

Consistent yoga practice builds long-term health and resilience. These systemic problems are part of a long arc, and require long-term solutions.

I am holding a vision of you being healthy, mobile, active and effective for many, many years to come! As we nurture health in our bones, muscles, joints, nerves, vital organs, we strengthen our ability to respond, skillfully and effectively to all that life brings, for the long haul. And, it helps us find the joy along the way! Which is such good medicine, too. 

It’s hard to show up for what you care about when you’re exhausted and in pain. Tending to your body and mind with skillful yoga practice is a way to invest in all that’s good in this life. It’s a gift to everything you are connected to. 

You are a gift. You are an essential piece of this puzzle!

May you be so held, nourished, and find happiness along this winding path through it all. 

Photo, above, from 1990 of Avery and their family at a “Peace in the Middle East” protest in Washington DC. We drove 5 hours from our home in West Virginia to attend.  

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Thanks for reading. The article above was shared via my newsletter March 6th, 2026. CLICK HERE to join my newsletter. I’d love to keep in touch.

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This article was shared via Avery’s newsletter March 6th, 2026.