I just finished interviewing six renowned yogis for a piece that will run in Yoga Journal, on how handle this economic shakeout with some modicum of equanimity.

Here’s  a preview of what they had to say:

Brent Kessel: “Many people have a worst case scenario in the back of their minds that they run away from. It’s healthier to acknowledge those feelings and confront your imagined scenario directly. If you do,  you’d see that you would cope, you would bring all your resourcefulness to that situation. You’d make a plan and deal with it.”

Scott Blossom: “The actual poses you do are less important than the energy and spirit you bring to them. Ground the feet. And take deep inhales. Now is the time to bring a sense of generosity to your practice, and do those poses that most nourish you.”

Carlos Pomeda: “Nothing last forever. Crises have an end. What meditation gives you in times of trouble is agility, and the ability to respond to what is, with clarity and calm.”

Ann Dyer: “Being well-rested helps us ride the surf of change. Because that’s what life is. It lets us  respond to what is with clarity and courage.”

Swami Ramananda: “We all are teachers to each other and inspire each other.  Karma yoga keeps us stable during anxious times by helping us reconnects us to the true source of our own of strength and stability — the unchanging spirit within us.”

Gurmukh: “Learn to enjoy something without having to own it. If you can enjoy beauty for its own sake, you change the way you relate to the world.  And with that, comes freedom, and the power to change your destiny.”

The piece will run in the March 2009 issue.

I am so thrilled that Barack Obama is President-Elect of the United States of America! I never thought I would see an African-American become President in my lifetime. I am so proud to be an American tonight.

May he live up to his exceptional promise. May he stay steady in a time of turmoil and uncertainty. May he be safe. May he unite this country so desperately in need of healing.

Hallelujah and G-d bless America.

A story on the front page of today’s New York Time perfectly captured my current angst. Obama is ahead, don’t jinx it by being positive  he’ll win.

Like the person desribed in the lede, I obsessively follow the polls. I create all different electoral scenarios. In pretty much all of them, Obama wins. But, as this person also said:

“I have this sense of impending doom; we’ve had a couple of elections stolen already. The only thing worse than losing is to think that you’re going to win and then lose.”

During the 2004 election, I went to bed thinking John Kerry won. I know this election is entirely different — we now have a  charismatic  nominee, and Obama’s polls, in so many swing states, are so far ahead. But I woke up on November 5, 2004, deeply depressed, and very pessimistic about the state of our democracy and the future of our county.

I can’t bare living through that again. I can’t bare the thought that an angry, entitled petty demigogue and his Lady Macbeth (though not as smart) running mate might possibly win. if that happened, we’re all doomed.

And that’s not the full extent of my anxiety. If Obama wins, I’m terrified he’d be a target for some crazy person who thinks we’re going to hell because a black man is president.

So until November 4, I’ll keep obsessively checking the polling data. And close my eyes and pray that when I wake up on November 5 (or even better, before going to sleep on November 4), our next President will be Barack Hussein Obama.