In the world around us, too many people are frantically multitasking, dashing around, trying to keep up. We’re connected 24/7 on the Internet, yet have become increasingly disconnected from ourselves and one another.
To flourish as individuals and a nation, we need community, people we can count on, people we can trust. Research has found that community is essential to our mental and physical health.
Years ago, more of us knew our neighbors. We had people nearby to do each other favors, share harvests from our gardens, and offer mutual support. We knew the local bank tellers, druggists, and bookstore owners by name. But now many bank tellers, druggists, and bookstore owners have been replaced by automation and the Internet.
Now many of us spend more time online than actually connecting with people. I see people walking down the street–even crossing the street–staring down at their phones, and couples who go out to dinner together personally disconnected, each staring down at a phone. Our sense of community is eroding away and with it our sense of trust.
Yet we can help bring it back. And it doesn’t take much. Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson has found that “micro-moments” of connectivity shared with another person can dramatically improve our health, raising our mood, relieving stress and reducing inflammation, building physical and emotional well-being. These connections can be shared not only with close friends and family members but the grocery store clerk or anyone else you encounter in daily life. A simple smile, eye contact, presence, perhaps a kind word—that’s all it takes.
We can make a difference. We can begin healing the stress and anxiety in our world by reaching out in micro-moments of presence to connect with the people around us, renewing our sense of community, one person at a time.
What about you?
You can make your life a moving meditation, challenging yourself to create micro-moments of connectivity with:
- friends and family,
- neighbors,
- coworkers,
- or the clerk at the grocery store.
You can begin by visualizing yourself doing this:
- Close your eyes
- Breathe into your heart
- And visualize yourself smiling, in a heartfelt connection with someone you know.
- What does this look like and feel like?
- Then open your eyes
Now take your meditation into action, moving through your day experiencing three small micro-moments of connection with the people you meet today.
Then notice how you feel and what a difference it makes in your life.
Namaste,
Diane
References:
Fredrickson, B. (2013). Love 2.0: How our supreme emotion affects everything we feel, think, do, and become. New York, NY: Hudson Street Press. See her short video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxxIh8NtGfw
Umberson, D., Montez, J. K. (2010).Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51 (1). S54 – S66. For research on the vital health benefits of community.