The Resistance begins Monday—but first it’s time for self-care.

We all need to re-charge.

The drumbeat of painful emails from friends and listeners to my show continues. Several made it clear they were moving out of the country. And they didn’t say that in a cliché way. These people laid out the details of the steps they are taking. They are going.

Others—as I noted in my article Wednesday—vowed to check out of politics. I still hear that sentiment.

But a growing number of people who call my show—and from comments I’ve seen online—are slowly pivoting to thinking about a new resistance movement like we saw when Donald Trump was first sworn in.  After all, Trump and his wealthy allies are currently plotting and scheming how to transform our country into a far right, anti-democratic oligarchy. We need to start planning how to prevent that.

However, before we can do that, all of us—including myself—need time for self-care after the trauma we experienced with Trump’s win. And yes, it was a trauma—which is defined by the American Psychological Association as “any disturbing experience that results in significant fear, helplessness, confusion, or other disruptive feelings intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person’s attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of functioning.”

In other words, Trump’s win has shaken many of us to the core. That is why I spoke to psychologist, Dr. Dawn Obeidallah Davis (who is my sister) on Thursday about what people are experiencing and how to cope and hopefully heal. (You can watch the entire interview below.) 

She offered some helpful advice, beginning with, “It's very easy to feel isolated in times of great disappointment and abandoned in a lot of ways. But you're not. There's so many of us who feel the same way, and so many of us who are disappointed and are right here shoulder to shoulder.”

That is very true. You are not alone. In fact, we are a vast, powerful army of nearly 70 million people and counting who voted Democratic in this election.

Yet still Dr. Davis made it clear that after this trauma, “it’s critical to relax and recharge.” For some, that can mean checking out from following political news for a bit, others it’s a vacation or as Davis noted, “You can do it so simply and completely for free by taking five full breaths in and out.” Davis explained that this simple breathing technique “actually begins to get your dorsal vagal system to quiet down. And it brings you back into a place of calm.”

She also suggested, “if you're feeling anxious, a really quick way to address that is to take your breath in and then exhale twice as long as your inhale.” Davis suggested to count the seconds of your inhale and exhale to ensure you are doubling the time. Give it a try now—it works!

Dr. Davis also importantly raised some red flags for when people should seek a professional level support in response to the trauma of this election. The top concerns she detailed are when people start having “thoughts of harming yourself or harming others.” But others include “a depression that lends itself to interrupting your functioning in life,” such as not wanting to go to work, socialize, or engage in the daily functions of life.

She added, “If you find that you're really withdrawn or incredibly angry, and it's very difficult for you to kind of take it down a notch. Those would all be signs that it would be great to get some support.”  As Dr. Davis summed up, “this has been a really difficult time,” and while some can cope with a breathing exercise, others will need a “more extended type of support in the way of a therapeutic alliance.”

That is why I wrote, “The resistance starts Monday.” For some, that might be this Monday. For others, it could be many Mondays from now. But first it’s time for self-care to repair and re-charge.

After that, we will take the fight to Trump. There will be no honeymoon for him. No moment of grace. No giving him the benefit of the doubt. We will never meet him halfway on his bigotry, sexism and cruelty. We know who he is. And more importantly, we know who we are.

---

Watch the full interview with my sister Dr. Dawn Obeidallah Davis below:

---