Yoga Is Not a Passive Practice

What Can You Do About What’s Happening With ICE?

We’ll keep the yoga pep talk short and get to business.

Move your body.
Do something within your community.

It doesn’t matter if you’re getting your rage out in a FIT class or soothing your nervous system in YIN. It doesn’t matter if your social connection happens in the studio, at brunch, or at a protest.

Movement and connection both speak directly to your ventral vagal nervous system—the part responsible for feelings of safety, regulation, and calm. The version of you that feels calmer and more resourced (or as close to that as you can get) is the version of you that can actually take action.

That’s the version of you that gets things done.

We all have a role to play. Below are some ways to engage. Please share additional resources or ideas—we learn better together.

Use Your Voice With Elected Officials

Contact your Senators and Representatives.
Yes—even if you live in a Democrat-represented area.

There is currently a Senate vote that includes increased funding for ICE. This funding bill has already passed in the House. If the Senate changes the bill, it goes back to the House.

We’re big fans of the 5calls app - it gives you access to contact all of your reps and scripts to use to make things easier.

If you have a Republican Senator:
Appeal to constitutional values—freedom of speech, due process, and limits on federal overreach. This is not a partisan issue. It is a humanitarian and constitutional one.

If your Democratic Senator is voting in alignment with the values you elected them for:
Say thank you—and ask for more.

Suggestions include:

• Calling for impeachment of corrupt administration members

• Encourage they communicate with Republicans to encourage bipartisan resistance

• Showing up publicly—not just as an office with a vote, but as a person with a body and a microphone

• Writing legislation that protects people from ICE overreach and demands transparency around how tax dollars are being spent

Our representatives have power. It matters how fully they use it.

Show Up — In the Ways You Can

Show up physically.
This might mean protesting, striking, sitting in, legal observing, volunteering with larger organizations, or running errands for neighbors who are scared to be in public. Different comfort levels are valid. All of it matters.

Standwithminnesota.com is a great resource for finding ways to support.

LAtaco created a list of organizations to support that work with immigrants.

Here’s a list of Social Justice organizations in California. 

Show up emotionally.
Check in on people you know who are undocumented or have family members with various immigration status. A simple message can mean everything:

“I’ve been thinking about you and hope you and your loved ones are okay. I’m here if you need support.”

Check in on people doing nervous-system-shattering work—protestors, journalists, parents, organizers. Your regulated presence is not small. It’s a resource.

Your yoga practice gives you access to steadiness. That steadiness can be the calm someone else needs.

Manage Your Information Intake

This is a marathon, not a sprint. 

Be intentional about when and how you consume information. Give yourself windows to engage deeply—and then step back to nourish yourself so you can return tomorrow. 

We love what Jeff the Therapist has to say “Your body wasn't made for this.” and provides us with tips to move stress THROUGH the body, get the energy out.

Look across perspectives so you can meet people where they are. Check facts and sources. Resist spreading misinformation, even when emotions are high. 

If you notice yourself spiraling on your phone:

• FaceTime a friend

• Move your body

• Play Tetris (yes, really—there’s evidence it helps regulate the nervous system after stress)

If your phone has a grip on you, it’s okay to transition within the phone to something more supportive.

Take the Next Available Action

Anxiety loves to convince us there’s nothing we can do. There is always one action available.

You are not failing by taking an hour on your mat.

Sometimes rest is the next action. When you pull farther back on the bow, the arrow flies farther. Be gentle with yourself. We love what Niki Saccareccia had to say here and the quote she shared.

Yoga teaches us a cycle for sustainable change:

• Svadhyaya — reflection

• Tamas (or tapas) — effort, heat, willful action

• Ishvara Pranidhana — be witness to the work

Then we repeat.

We dont want to burn out. We need you well, steady, and resilient.

We don’t practice yoga to create a pocket of peace so we can ignore the world.
We practice yoga to become more functional humans—so we can show up in the world.

Right now, we need you regulated, connected, and clear.
We need your presence, your voice, and your care