#toxic thought

Like the kind of angry that makes you have to get up and walk around?

Like you start having angry conversations with the air because you're so upset?

This is actually more from the comments below this prompt. But yeah, the Punk knows where it's at!

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02848-g291-the-punk-choice

They were a lone wolf. They stockpiled canned foods, tons of ammo, had enough firearms for an army! They had water filters, at least some, and learned how to make soap, how to camp out, all the basics. Their plan? Live on what they could, and when they ran out, take what they wanted. If the people refused to give it, well then a bullet would solve that problem.

The others had a bunker, the others were dead. The plague took 'em, well ain't that something? They left their door open, too! But wait.. there was nothing here. No guns, no ammo, no... food. Only thing they had were seeds. Books, seeds... a few small solar panels and wires, that kind of crap. Some wood piled up, dishes, clothes, a few bars of soap, what in the hell, nothing but those and a nearby stream, with town six days walk away. -- DaniAndShali

It was a huge bunker. It must have cost a lot of money. It even had a visitor's log. It had its own electricity and someone's spotify playlist was playing at background noise levels over the internal PA. It was empty of everyone except the man who called himself Wolf. He was on edge as a direct result. Scouring every chamber for anyone who might provide opposition to his continued survival.

He didn't find anybody until he got to the underground medbay and morgue. They'd all died from the plague. The last survivor had written a note and given themself a fatal dose of something, dying in comfort on their bed.

Dear visitor. We knew we were all going to die. The things in this bunker are not for us, but for a better future. Please employ them for the betterment of the survivors of our grand mistake. Repair this broken world. Complete instructions are in the vault. Wolf rolled his eyes. There was no repairing the world. It was broken for good. All it needed was the rugged individualists[1] to forge a great new nation from the ashes of defeat.

By: Samantha Rose Johnson

One day I decided to do yoga with my shirt off. I think I was too hot with what I was wearing, and not wanting to disrupt my flow, I quickly took my shirt off instead of finding something else. I wasn't wearing a bra that day, and I was in my room alone anyway, so why not try it? 

I was in my Brooklyn apartment, where I discovered Adriene, my favorite YouTube Yogi. Adriene is extremely skilled at helping us remember to explore and flow and especially her famous catchphrase, "Find What Feels Good." Well, having my shirt off at the time felt good, so I went for it.

I was, at the time, surprised to find it felt really empowering. I love naked yoga! I wasn't fully naked, and I think a part of me still feels funny about having my bare butt on a yoga mat that I sweat on and step on, but even having only my shirt off was a new experience.

Women tend to be conditioned to look at our bodies in merely a sexual or critical way: Am I sexually attractive at all moments and times? Am I physically appealing (to men)? Am I presentable? If you haven't felt these haunting questions almost every time you look in the mirror, I'm so happy for you because I think most of us do, and I think we don't always realize the harm we are causing ourselves.

So when I went into downward dog and looked at my breasts, I was in awe of how I felt about what I saw. For the first time either in a long time or ever, I don't recall, I didn't look at my breasts in a sexual way or questioning whether or not they looked "good." I wasn't concerned. When I did critique their appearance in their funny upside down way, I let the toxic thought pass. I accepted and embraced my breasts for exactly how they were in that moment. Of course, it was easier to do knowing they didn't always look like that, but to even critique them then felt unnecessary. Let's face it, it's always unnecessary. So I eased into myself and embraced myself wholly.

I think that's another beautiful thing about yoga. It teaches us exactly that: To look at ourselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally with more light, ease, and compassion. We don't have to worry about "looking good" because our greatest concern in that moment, especially when you're doing yoga with Adriene, is feeling good. And I want to say a big THANK YOU to Adriene for expanding my relationship to my thought processes and remembering to be compassionate and gentle with myself. It is so important. If we treated ourselves that way, and continued to treat others that way, imagine the change we could see in the world.

So ladies, and gents! if you're reading, and EVERYONE! I highly recommend doing yoga naked, at least once, feeling and observing what you find. You might discover that you love yourself in a whole new light.

Peace & Blessings!

xo

Samantha Rose