Voting Day Asana (Yoga for Voters)

When you wake, wake up gently, reminding yourself that the U.S. was not built in a day. When you’re ready, roll to your side and, like a bill slowly being ushered into law, gradually come to sitting.
 
Plant both feet evenly on the floor, then take a moment to connect to your glutes. These are the drivers of the revolution. Squeeze your glutes and come to standing. From here, root your heels and the base of your big toe into the floor until you can feel clearly the stable platform of democracy.  

Take rest.

On the way to your precinct, envision a string pulling you up from the middle of your head. This is the key to Voterasana. 
 
If you find yourself waiting in line to vote, consider rolling up and down on the balls of your feet. This movement can help to push the blood back up the body, where it will again move through the heart and into the lungs to be replenished with oxygen, much as your democracy is being refreshed and replenished today.
 
Once you arrive at the voting machine, you may have to look down to see the screen. Instead of simply bending at the neck, think about pulling the head up and over the body.  As you pull up, feel yourself looking out over the present and into a bright future. As you pull over, remind yourself of the power of the present.
 
Now, relax the shoulder of your voting hand and let it settle. Finding your center, take a deep breath into the lower ribs, letting them expand in all directions like emigrants fleeing oppression. As you exhale and your ribs descend, feel yourself settling into a new country.
 
Great! You are ready to vote. Lift your finger to the screen, and, as you feel the stubborn electronic buttons resist your pressure, keep standing tall, maintaining the same stable platform, easy breath and relaxed shoulders, remembering that democracy is never easy, but that the buttons may yet yield to a bright tomorrow.