the polls are closed. (tonight, tomorrow and whatever comes next)

the polls are closed.

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evening, backyard yogis. <3 the polls are closed. i don’t know what tonight/tomorrow will look like. i don’t know what the results will mean for all of us, or how differently those results might be felt depending on who we are and what we’re already carrying. and i don’t think there’s much use in pretending otherwise. not here for that. i did want to share something from Susanna Barkataki, whose work has been an important part of how we understand and approach yoga at backyard yogis: “Voting isn’t the end, it's a beginning. Let your vote be one of the ways you move towards shared equity, peace and justice.” you can read her full post here, including her thoughts on why voting matters beyond election day. i mention this because while these elections are not without consequence, our work, our purpose--remains the same. we did what we could today. and whatever happens next, the work of caring for ourselves and each other remains the same. the work of building community, sharing resources, showing up for people, and paying attention to those whose lives are most affected by the decisions being made around us. none of that begins or ends with an election. backyard yogis was born out of a desire to have somewhere to be with people who understood what it feels like to survive and live in this particular place we live. to bear witness to a world that is often just as beautiful as it is horrific, and to understand that for so many of us, both of those things demand our attention. sometimes all at once. whew. tonight and tomorrow, things might shift a bit for us. in our minds, in our bodies, in the way we move through the world. (maybe not!) we might feel relief, anger, grief, exhaustion, or absolutely nothing at all. and those experiences won’t be the same for everyone. i don’t have an encouraging conclusion to offer you. i don’t know what happens next. but i do know that we have each other. and that the care we extend to one another is something we can continue to choose, regardless of what tomorrow brings. our collective well-being depends on your individual well-being, too. so please, get some rest. take care of yourself. we’ve still got a lot of taking care of each other to do. night night, shelby + kby