Eleditor’s Note: We welcome all points of view, as long as helpful and respectful and fact-based. Contribute your thoughts, if so inspired, here—our mission is to bring all together in mindful discussion, so that we may learn, share and listen.

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I’m in day three of my Trump blackout, where I refuse to read or watch any article or video related to Trump.

This came about after my partner, Joy, called me out, tired of hearing my angry rants about what a travesty the entire process has become. She pressed me and said I should volunteer or do something to empower myself rather than remain ineffectually angry and afraid.

The Trump boycott is my solution. With this boycott I feel I can make a difference and do something with my anger and fear.

I’m doing it partly out of psychic self-preservation. I was driving myself crazy by indulging in this collective fascination with Trump that’s sweeping up so many of us. From the political to apolitical, American or non American, the whole world marveling at his manipulative work was causing me to spin around in circles day after day wondering how the hell he rose to political power in America. Six of the eight news stories that rotate in my phone’s automatic newsfeed deal with Trump. It has been a great relief to turn off my newsfeed.

The decision to boycott Trump is partly based on my years of practicing the yogic technique of stopping my minds activity. Mind activity is known as vrtti (to turn or revolve) and is likened to wave patterns that arise and pass away upon the ocean’s surface. The state of union in yoga happens when we successfully cause the vrttis in our mind to cease turning. We clear our head, clear our psychic space and know peace.

Psychic and mental agitation is the enemy in yoga. Whatever clears the mind is a helper that puts us on the track to healing, peace and unity. Trump and his bullying message stir up mind activity. The real Trump is like an inner bully who demands attention, makes a lot of noise and thrives on the chaos that comes from disrupting things. The more attention we give this inner bully, the louder it gets, the more it attempts to dominate, and the more entitled it feels to speak up.

One key to dealing with this type of vrtti is to remember that negative attention is no different than positive attention. Putting a lot of energy into calling it out or scolding the bully or pointing out how wrong it is are not helpful in eliminating it.

The only effective means of dealing with such vrttis is to cut them off radically—to ignore them, to refuse to have anything to do with them at all.

Reading about or interfacing with Trump at any level is a form of supporting Trump. This is true whether the article is for him, against him, pro or con; any article having to do with Trump will stir up vrttis. That is why I’ve started my own Trump boycott, I’m handling the outer situation the same way I’d handle the inner situation. Singly, I believe I am doing a small service to decrease Trump’s chances of winning the election.

If you join me in boycotting all news that has to do with Trump and his messages of fear, mistrust, hate and dishonesty, maybe we can create a tremendous collective power and help thwart his unwholesome power play.

His continual presence in the news is giving him authority and recognition he does not deserve. Ignoring him will be the absolute worst thing he could imagine. Actively ignoring him as a conscious stance might even cause him to melt away like the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. I include in this reporters who are reporting negatively about Trump—I think all of you should also consider ceasing to report on him, stop being part of the attention and spotlight he craves. Pointing out his lies and his harmful stances doesn’t produce the desired results.

If every single person who is not for Trump refuses to read, watch a video or write any story about him (bad or good), he has less chance of winning.

Keep feeding the Trump publicity fire, keep allowing the Trump fear and hate vrttis to turn in your own head, and he may or may not continue to gather enough steam to present a real challenge to Clinton. I began three days ago; my psyche is thanking me profusely. I invite you to join me. Let’s continue this vigil until after the election.

On a side note, for obvious reasons, I am fully aware that this will be the only article I will write about Trump. I apologize.

Author: David Garrigues

Image: Used with permission from Joanna Darlington

Editor: Toby Israel

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