I can relate to the elephants. When an earthquake rattled San Diego earlier this month, Ndlula, Umngani and Khosi, the zoo’s majestic African elephants quickly moved together and then backed up toward each other, creating an outward facing protective huddle around their young. (See the video here.) They held this “alert circle” until they assessed that the danger had passed.
The chaotic and aggressive actions taken by the current presidential administration have created an earthquake of sorts as they shake up our national and global order. Witnessing these threats to human dignity and our planet, I feel the urge to protectively circle up my loved ones. I also need the support of my people and the reassurance I’m not alone.
Communal care is essential when we’re facing the threat of harm. While self-care is an important way to resource ourselves, it’s just not enough to get us through such tectonic shifts. We need each other.
Research in the field of interpersonal neurobiology has shown how our nervous systems are connected through limbic resonance. When we tend to each other, our body systems (e.g., brain waves and heart rate variability) synch up and we feel calmer together. This communal co-regulation is protective and nourishing.
Since the election, I’ve been extra intentional about connecting in community. I invite my friends and family to gather regularly, in person and online, and I seek out restorative group activities. I’m going to an in-person yoga class for the first time in decades and I attend book club at my favorite local bookstore. Also, I’m steadied by my professional community, the American Psychological Association, as we stand together for our commitment to human rights, dignity and science with abiding support for diversity, equity and inclusion.
By finding people who share our values and are constructively engaged, we can stabilize our footing on these shifting grounds. Now is the time to reach for your people and/or venture out to find new folks to hold on with during these bumpy times.
Photo credit: Willm78
