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We map a path from overwhelm to ethical action by treating joy as a trainable practice and the nervous system as our guide. We name the moment, metabolize rage into clarity, choose one sustainable lane, and pace for the marathon with somatic tools and information hygiene.

• grounding in the ethos of moving through difficulty to reach durable joy
• regulation, recovery, and return as athletic training for the nervous system
• naming collective grief, fear, and rage without collapsing into it
• capacity, integrity, and the courage to act imperfectly
• reframing rage as boundary data and directing it into action
• sustainable civic steps and choosing one focused lane
• information hygiene and media boundaries to protect health
• somatic practices for discharge and repair: walking, shaking, crying, breath
• support for caregivers to pace for the long road
• three truths on regulation, imperfect action, and values-aligned joy
• journaling prompts to turn feelings into clarity and steps

If you feel called, it would mean so much if you could go ahead and drop us a review, maybe throw us a couple of stars. If there are five of them, even better.

Choose 1–3. Keep it simple. Keep it honest. Do it imperfectly.

Regulation

1. Where do I feel the current political moment in my body?
2. What signals tell me I’ve consumed enough information today?
3. What reliably brings me back to center?

Rage & Boundaries

1. What am I most angry about right now?
2. What boundary does that anger reveal?
3. If my rage had a wise job, what would it be?

Voice & Integrity

1. Where have I been silent out of fear of getting it wrong?
2. What value feels non-negotiable for me right now?
3. What does integrity (not perfection) look like in my life?

Action & Capacity

1. What is one action I can take sustainably this week?
2. What is one action I can release without guilt?
3. How do I want to pace myself for the long road ahead?

(Remember: This is a marathon, not a sprint.)

Joy as Practice

1. What brings me back to joy after engaging with heavy topics?
2. How do I train my nervous system to recover?
3. What does being an athlete of joy look like this week?

Choose one lane. Bookmark the rest.

Civic Engagement

Find Your Elected Officials

🔗 https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

U.S. Capitol Switchboard

📞 202-224-3121

(Call and ask one clear question. You don’t need the perfect script — just your voice.)

Immigration Support

Immigration Advocates Network

🔗 https://www.immigrationadvocates.org

ACLU – Immigrants’ Rights

🔗 https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights

Survivor-Centered Support

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)

🔗 https://www.rainn.org

National Women’s Law Center

🔗 https://nwlc.org

Investigative Journalism & Court Records

ProPublica

🔗 https://www.propublica.org

CourtListener

🔗 https://www.courtlistener.com

Support the show

Buy your copy of Elena's book "Grieve Outside the Box"
Follow on IG @elenabox

Send us a text

Feeling spun out by the headlines and the heat online? We name the collective dysregulation many of us are sensing and offer a humane path back to steadiness: grief literacy, nervous system care, and joyful integrity that doesn’t require disengaging from what matters. I share why doomscrolling is a trauma response, how the body interprets constant input as threat, and what conscious, bounded engagement looks like when staying informed starts to cost your aliveness.

Together, we unpack a practical compass for hard times: think globally, act locally, regulate personally. That means honoring limits, then turning attention to small, consistent acts of care in your neighborhood—checking on an elder after a storm, sharing groceries, making eye contact, or supporting a local pantry. We also challenge binary thinking and dehumanization, choosing to see the person across from us while refusing to use hatred as a coping strategy. Joyful presence becomes a form of resistance, a way to stay human without collapsing into apathy or burning out.

You’ll also get tactile tools to metabolize grief and release charge safely: submerged screams in a bath, rage rooms, angry walks in the woods, long exhales that reset the vagus nerve, cold-water resets, and a simple news boundary ritual followed by a hand-wash to signal completion. We close with a joy ledger practice and focused journaling prompts to clarify what’s truly in your control—your attention, your relationships, and your care for vulnerable people nearby. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs steadiness today, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find a humane way back to joy.

Journaling Prompts

• “What am I actually grieving beneath my political feelings?”
• “Where has my nervous system been asking for rest?”
• “What does joyful integrity look like for me right now?”
• “What is one small place I can show up locally this week?”
• “What happens in my body when I step away from the noise?”

Support the show

Buy your copy of Elena's book "Grieve Outside the Box"
Follow on IG @elenabox

Send us a text

We unpack the lie that joy is a feeling you earn and reclaim it as a daily practice that builds resilience. We explore how joy coexists with grief, why breakthroughs without integration burn us out, and how small rituals train the nervous system to return to center.

• dismantling myths of joy as reward, feeling, or circumstance
• the spiral nature of healing and identity
• practicing joy before the result through repetition
• consistency over motivation and gentle returns
• joy and grief coexisting without canceling each other
• ordinary rituals that regulate the nervous system
• three core truths to carry through the week
• journaling prompts for practical integration
• noticing returns, softening, and steadiness

Three Elena Truths: Pick one to carry you through the week

1. Joy is not a mood. It’s a practice.
2. Resilience isn’t pushing through. It’s returning to yourself.
3. You don’t wait for the life you want—you practice it in small, livable ways.

Journaling Prompts:

• Where am I waiting for joy instead of practicing it?
• What is one small way I already know how to return to myself?
• If joy were a practice, not a feeling, what would it look like this week?
• What feels kind and doable right now?

Once a month I send out the Calliope’s Quill newsletter with journaling prompts and notes, sign up at www.elenabox.com

Support the show

Buy your copy of Elena's book "Grieve Outside the Box"
Follow on IG @elenabox