Hit with rotten news?

When current events feels like an ongoing attack -

These situations often strikes something very personal—our sense of safety, dignity, or belonging. It can feel like waves of pain, anger, fear, or even helplessness crashing into your nervous system. This is a very real trauma response, not weakness.

Here are ways to navigate it:

1. Name the Impact

“This feels like an attack.”
Naming the sensation can interrupt the overwhelm. It acknowledges, “I am impacted. This matters.”

2. Regulate Before You Process

• Breathe: Ground in your breath. Four counts in, hold four, out for four.

• Move: Shake, stomp, sway, dance. Let your body discharge the energy.

• Touch: Place a hand over your heart or on something solid—desk, wall, earth.

3. Choose Your Intake

• Step away from doomscrolling.

• Seek trusted sources or community reflections instead of hostile commentary.

• Give yourself permission to turn it off.

4. Connect, Don’t Isolate

• Reach out to a friend, ally, or community that gets it.

• Simply hearing, “Yeah, me too. This is hard,” can soften the edge.

5. Create a Pocket of Peace

• Rituals: Light a candle, hold a stone, drink tea intentionally.

• Music: Loud, soft, angry, joyful—whatever shifts the air.

• Nature: Even looking out the window at sky or tree helps.

6. Remember: Their Attack Is Not Your Truth

• Systems of oppression, hatred, or ignorance don’t define your worth.

• Return to your center. You are still here. You are still whole.