INDIVISIBLE Lambertville NJ / New Hope PA

Category: Health and Wellness

  • Winter is Coming Survival Guide

    Contributed by Amara Willey.

    As the impeachment hearings progress and we continue to narrow the field of presidential challengers, we may feel some stress from all the news coming our way. It’s always important to fill our own wells before we try to pour it out for others or the causes we support and volunteer for. Here’s your winter guide to well-being.

    1. Earth – While it may be too cold to stick our toes in the dirt at this time of year, it can be very peaceful to look at nature. Make a point of driving back roads so you can see the ever-changing scenery. Put a screensaver on your computer that displays beautiful natural scenes.
    2. Air – Take walks outside when the weather permits and breathe the crisp, cool air. Practice conscious breathing. Notice your breath at least three times a day – before or after meals if you have trouble remembering. Try slowing your breathing once a day. Breathe in four counts, hold seven counts, and breathe out eight counts. Do that for a minute or two.
    3. Water – Contemplate your inner world. Meditate and center yourself. Remember you are like a snowflake on the vast planet – unique and indivisible. Put up a photo of a snowflake or fountain and just be with it. Take a long bath and let the water soak away your troubles. Imagine them going down the drain.
    4. Fire – Sit in front of an outdoor bonfire or inside by a fireplace. Watch the flames and be grateful for how warm and cozy you are.
    5. Spirit — Speaking of gratitude, tell someone how grateful you are for them. Write down 10 things you are grateful for every day, either first thing in the morning or right before you go to bed. 

    For more ideas about how to de-stress this season, check out https://blog.risecredit.com/10-tips-de-stressing-fall/.

  • Practicing Radical Hospitality

    Contributed by Rev. Susan Broadhurst Goodwin.

    My heart, like yours, has ached since November 2016. Values our nation stood for, particularly truth, human rights and protecting creation, have been cast aside while the raw sewage of greed, white supremacy, racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia coming from this president has been baked into policies that hurt people and spilled across our airwaves splattering all of us. As a progressive Christian minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC), I am horrified that #45 identifies as a Christian and profoundly shocked that evangelicals support this country’s most morally corrupt leader. My denomination’s slogan is: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” Like other followers of Abrahamic tradition, welcoming the stranger is integral to my faith tradition’s path to peace. Radical hospitality is the central message of the Gospel.

    Radical hospitality means that we care about one another. Jesus said: “Love one another as I have loved you.” We cannot love one another without respecting one another. To love one another fully, we must watch our words, speak our truth, and listen carefully. Radical hospitality calls us to build up families, communities and relationships; there is no room for taunts, jeers, and threats. While my faith calls me to be peace-filled, it does not encourage passivity. There can be no peace without justice and that means we understand the place of righteous anger: Jesus famously illustrated this by over-turning the tables of greedy money changers taking advantage of the poor in the Jerusalem Temple. Indivisible resisters understand righteous anger too.

    In the Book of Micah, we find these words: “Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.” That is our privilege, our challenge, our mission, our path to peace. Justice, kindness and humility are of no interest to #45. Nevertheless we persist. Our path to peace is clear.

    Susan B. Goodwin is a member of ILNH. She graduated from Drew Theological School (M.Div, Summa Cum Laude) and was ordained in the UCC in 2004. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Politics & Public Policy from the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University.  She has served churches in New Jersey and current teaches, writes and preaches in Bucks County and New Jersey.

  • How to Survive the Trump Years

    Binge watching old episodes of West Wing, a stiff drink, or putting our heads in the sand might help us feel better, but it may not be the most productive way to cope with the current political situation. In order for us to continue to take action and uphold democracy, we need to find ways to fill our own wells.

    Perhaps our membership in Indivisible is enough. Certainly political activism is one way to help us feel like we are making a difference and regaining our personal sense of control. For Elizabeth Watson, activism is a bridge to other humans regardless of their political affiliation. “For me, finding ways to communicate so they can see we have the same values,” Watson says, is what keeps her going.

    Zoe Langdon has an unspoken rule in her social life that no one talks about the current administration. “It’s like money and religion,” she says, “so our social time is political topic-free.” She and her husband apply the same strategy to certain times of the day. “Mornings are politics-free zones. And if we are going to have a discussion as partners, we try to just make statements of fact rather than emotional hyperbole,” she says, so that they don’t get the other one upset.

    “Limit the news and stay on point,” says Tinicum Township resident Charles Sorrels. As an artist, he finds art to be a cathartic outlet for anything that is emotionally difficult. “The process of art, the activity itself, even if it isn’t making a point, keeps me focused and balanced when I’m angry or saddened,” Sorrels says.

    Another strategy is practiced by New Hope resident Lisa Harrison, an avid physical fitness fan. She says, “It’s overwhelming if you let it be.” Instead her outlets are running, spinning and swimming. Others, like Langdon, go for walks with their four-legged companions or dance around the house.

    Jim Szwedo, also of New Hope, counsels that taking some kind of break is important for sanity. “I find little oases, like doing a hobby, being with my family, or reading for fun.” He also recommends the power of music to heal the soul.
    Kathy Bryant finds solace in volunteering in the schools and giving learning support to elementary age kids. She’s a part-time volunteer for S.A.G.E., which matches people age 55 and older with volunteer opportunities in local school districts. Bryant says the kids think of her as a big grandma.

    Yoga and meditation are other strategies that people use to stay sane in a world turned upside down. Harrison says meditation helps her when she feels distracted or outraged.

    Others turn to spirituality for solace. Amara Willey of Clinton has created an altar that has a miniature replica of the White House and the Capitol sitting on an American flag. She says she sends prayers of light, love and hope to our political leaders whenever she thinks of it. “I figure the less people are afraid, the more they will make good decisions,” she says.

    Willey will be leading “Prayers for Peace, Justice and the American Way, on Sunday, March 25, from 11am – 12pm at The Room at Meadowbrook in Ottsville, PA. She explains, “Now is a time for healing and unity. Our thoughts are powerful, and we can change the world with them. Join us in ceremony to release fear and send prayers and light to Washington.”

    To register, go to.

    Call to Action: Chronic stress contributes to several physical and mental health issues. Know when you need to take a break: Shut down the devices, turn off the news. Connect with supportive people, with nature, with your creative and spiritual self. Refuel, and when you’re ready, rejoin the Resistance!