Choose Hope and Healing in Divided Times

“How do you want the future to look?” Sally Kempton, a respected teacher of meditation and spiritual wisdom, asked this question in her Circle of Light guided meditation aimed at healing both the planet and ourselves.

“Can you see a world in which humans recognize the truth that we are all part of a single tapestry—that we are all sacred, and that each one of us has the power to live from a divine core? Can you imagine a world in which we protect nature, and recognize the rights of all living creatures and of the earth itself?”

At this significant time for the earth and humanity, Kempton believes it’s more important than ever to offer our best, holding space for positive transformation by realizing that every thought and feeling matters, and by filling our minds with blessings and energies of light. In her meditation, Kempton guides participants to feel their inner hearts fill with loving light energy, then to sense that energy spilling over to fill the space around them, flowing out in waves from within to fill the entire room, the neighborhood, expanding throughout our cities, penetrating the corridors of government buildings, into the homes of people all over the world, softening and inspiring everyone and everything it touches.

“Inhaling, draw your intention for light and love into your own body,” Sally instructs. “Exhaling, feel it spreading softly from your heart into the world. Imagine the people you love filled with light. Imagine people you distrust or reject filled with light. Imagine that where there is fear, unhappiness, and cruelty, this light dispels pain. Imagine people all over the world looking into each other’s eyes and recognizing our shared humanity. Meditate on the illumination of the world.”

Choose hope by creating space for light

Watching the news, it is easy to get stuck in despair and overwhelm and to respond to the discord and injustices we’re witnessing with rage and blame. But it’s important to remind ourselves that speaking or acting from a place of indignation and fury—no matter how righteous it feels—reinforces age-old self-perpetuating cycles of conflict.

“What we think about profoundly affects not only our psyches but our physical lives. When we tell ourselves angry stories,” Kempton wrote in her best-selling book, Awakening Shakti—The Transformative Power of the Goddesses of Yoga, “we fill ourselves with angry energy. For that moment at least, we become angry people. When we use active imagination to envision positive outcomes for ourselves and others, we can create realities that will eventually manifest in our personhood and our culture.”

While anger can function as a healthy wake-up call, Hilary Nicholls—an energy healer who conducts nature-based Circles of Light meditations—advises, “we can never actualize our dream for what and who we can be on this planet through the lens of fear, believing we have an enemy. We can only do this by reconnecting to humanity from a place of love—by grounding and calming ourselves so we are able to bring in this higher energy and embody it.”

Become a channel for love

Cultivating an open mind and heart enables us to tap into the benevolent energies of the universe that buoy and nurture us. This connection helps us remain optimistic and energized—sustaining us while we do our important work to help eliminate suffering in the world.

“Every person holds a piece of the mosaic that makes up the human family,” Nicholls believes. “Each of us has a very special part to play, and our instructions are found inside our hearts. We find this piece of the puzzle by distinguishing what we love most. That is our connection. We can all be a powerful force for peace in the world when our actions are motivated by true kindness, moment to moment, day by day. Ultimately, love is the strongest force.”

As more and more of us tune into what Kempton calls the “golden current of love,” we “create a channel that makes it easier for that energy to show up in the human world.” These feelings of connection lead to actions that foster more much-needed goodness in the world.

Listen in as Sally Kempton guides us in meditation: