Sometimes in our lives, we endure some very difficult times. Things that we had planned for, hoped for and expected don't go as we thought they would. During those times, it can seem like one of the most darkest hours in life but when we frame these moments with perspective, it is then that we see, the road continues ahead. While the road may not be illuminated very far ahead of us, just knowing that it continues can bring a renewed sense of determination to our step. It gives us strength, energy and resolve to continue taking each one of our steps no matter how difficult they may be.
Of course once we get through these difficult moments that we may encounter in our lives, we are able to look back and see a beautiful sunset behind us instead of the dark stormy clouds that were hovering over us. Our minds may have momentary difficulty understanding why a place in our journey looked so dark and now it is filled with beautiful sunlight but as we progress down our journey, so to will we understand with a greater depth what blocked the sunlight from our view.
As we find ourselves under the dark stormy clouds on our path, let us not forget what all we have brought along in our journey for there is much that we carry with us. From the strength of the good times, to the courage of facing our fears we hold tight to the friendships, the love, and the never ending hope that no matter what comes our way, we will go on. So take all of the good times and the bad times that you carry with you and allow them to help illuminate your path ahead. For they are part of you just as you are part of them.
Take a moment to pause and reflect on all that is in your current path. While it may seem difficult and unending, know too that there is something that is trying to bring a greater awareness and knowledge into your life. It is an opportunity to grow and to prepare you for future steps along your path. It really is not the end of the world but most likely a beginning of another world for you. It can be an exciting time filled with intrigue, mystery and amazement. Be the observer and do not miss a single moment of all that surrounds you for there may be great discovery in just viewing it through the eye of the beholder.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Releasing Accumulated Stuff
I'm one of those people who pick a lot up when I'm around other people. Ever since I was a small child, I was always known as a very sensitive person. I can cry at just about any thing or any event that takes place. For a long time, I took on the label of being a cry baby put there by my father and as I learned as a child, being sensitive was not a good thing. That was until a few years back when I finally discovered, being sensitive is a good thing.
Since that discovery though, I have had to come to terms with being sensitive and not letting it completely rule and ruin my daily life. That's been a challenge for me to understand and while I have heard many people share many different ways to deal with this, most of them usually fell in to woo woo dust and landed on the floor. I can not say that I have completely figured it out but I have learned so many things that help me personally and I believe that this is what each person has to find out for themselves. What may work for one person, may not work for all and while there may be underlying themes to each solution, one must find their own solution.
In the spirit of me sharing what works for me, here are some of those solutions I've found.
1. I take time to be outdoors in the sun, among the trees and the birds feeling the wind against my face as I become one with all of these things in that moment. My focus is on connecting with each of these things seeing the shades and deep colors of the tree, the sky and the clouds while hearing as many individual sounds coming from the birds and the wind that I am able to pick up. As I do these things, I lose track of all that I am currently dragging around with me. It is a moment of refreshing time and a reorientation into what really matters in the day.
2. At times I just sit or stand picturing myself connecting to mother earth and it is as if my feet are growing roots that connect deep into mother earth knowing that no matter what hits me during the day or what I experience, that I am connected and grounded to the source that keeps me planted firmly on my path in life.
3. I have various music and meditations that I use at different times. Some of the music and meditations that I use are (including my own relaxing piano music that I create) :
5. Sometimes screaming can help me greatly but doing so in a very connected way to my body. Screaming alone may or may not help but when you connect it to your body in that deep awareness state, much can be released. One of the ways I do this is by going to my pool and working the water up in a swirl with my arms while I'm connecting my mind and body together. Than I scream as loud as I can as I'm putting my face in the water so no one basically hears me. And I just let it all out. I've done this in my vehicle as well and if you connect everything together, it will move some energy.
6. Getting body work of any kind done on me especially from those who know how to connect body work with the mind is powerful and very effective. We as a society do not do this enough and if we would, our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health would greatly improve. While the various types of bodywork are numerous, find one that speaks to you and explore it. A couple that I enjoy are:
Of course there are so many other ways that one can relax, ground themselves and release accumulated stuff. I have just briefly touched on a few possibilities. If something works for you, please feel free to leave it and a link to more information in the comments.
Whatever you do, don't stop discovering yourself or becoming aware of all that you can be. For the more we know about ourselves the great our life's possibilities can be. The more we release all that we have stored within us, the more free we become which leads to greater health, greater awareness and a deeper peace.
Since that discovery though, I have had to come to terms with being sensitive and not letting it completely rule and ruin my daily life. That's been a challenge for me to understand and while I have heard many people share many different ways to deal with this, most of them usually fell in to woo woo dust and landed on the floor. I can not say that I have completely figured it out but I have learned so many things that help me personally and I believe that this is what each person has to find out for themselves. What may work for one person, may not work for all and while there may be underlying themes to each solution, one must find their own solution.
In the spirit of me sharing what works for me, here are some of those solutions I've found.
1. I take time to be outdoors in the sun, among the trees and the birds feeling the wind against my face as I become one with all of these things in that moment. My focus is on connecting with each of these things seeing the shades and deep colors of the tree, the sky and the clouds while hearing as many individual sounds coming from the birds and the wind that I am able to pick up. As I do these things, I lose track of all that I am currently dragging around with me. It is a moment of refreshing time and a reorientation into what really matters in the day.
2. At times I just sit or stand picturing myself connecting to mother earth and it is as if my feet are growing roots that connect deep into mother earth knowing that no matter what hits me during the day or what I experience, that I am connected and grounded to the source that keeps me planted firmly on my path in life.
3. I have various music and meditations that I use at different times. Some of the music and meditations that I use are (including my own relaxing piano music that I create) :
- Don Shetterly - Relaxing Spa Music (Amazon)
- Don Shetterly - Focusing (Amazon)
- Don Shetterly - Dancing With Life (Amazon)
- Don Shetterly - Meditation Music: Healing Angels (Amazon)
- Doreen Virtue - Chakra Clearing (HayHouse.com)
- Jonathan Goldman - Holy Harmony (Amazon)
- Dik Darnell - Following The Circle (Amazon)
- Hemisync - Chakra Journey with the music of Thunderbolt (Hemisync.com)
- Epic Meditations - Guided Meditations (itunes)
5. Sometimes screaming can help me greatly but doing so in a very connected way to my body. Screaming alone may or may not help but when you connect it to your body in that deep awareness state, much can be released. One of the ways I do this is by going to my pool and working the water up in a swirl with my arms while I'm connecting my mind and body together. Than I scream as loud as I can as I'm putting my face in the water so no one basically hears me. And I just let it all out. I've done this in my vehicle as well and if you connect everything together, it will move some energy.
6. Getting body work of any kind done on me especially from those who know how to connect body work with the mind is powerful and very effective. We as a society do not do this enough and if we would, our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health would greatly improve. While the various types of bodywork are numerous, find one that speaks to you and explore it. A couple that I enjoy are:
- Trager - Gentle, rocking movements that while feel very light to a person, the effects of this work go very deep into the subconscious and are much deeper than any massage can usually reach.
- Unified Therapy - Work created by Dr. Canali of the Evolutionary Healing Institute. It is life changing work and greatly helps to rid the body of stored energy thereby freeing your life up to be all that it can be and bringing about deep awareness to your every day life.
Of course there are so many other ways that one can relax, ground themselves and release accumulated stuff. I have just briefly touched on a few possibilities. If something works for you, please feel free to leave it and a link to more information in the comments.
Whatever you do, don't stop discovering yourself or becoming aware of all that you can be. For the more we know about ourselves the great our life's possibilities can be. The more we release all that we have stored within us, the more free we become which leads to greater health, greater awareness and a deeper peace.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Health Of Our Nervous System
Have you ever considered just how important the health of your nervous system is to you? It regulates so much in our present lives and it sets up conditions and events for the future of our body systems.
Most likely we have all heard about how outside events and influences can become energy trapped in our bodies. If this energy is not discharged from the body, it will continue to hold residence within the cells, nervous system and our brain. While it may not show any visible signs immediately, some event or trigger will eventually trigger the energy and stir it up like a tornado or hurricane stirs up the ground it passes over.
There are two parts to the Autonomic Nervous System. One is the sympathetic branch which takes over when you are going through stress, illness or injury. The parasympathetic branch is in control when you are relaxing, sleeping or in a state of stillness. It is often called the rest and repair state.
Both of these parts of our nervous system are important to our health. One without the other is an imbalance. However, if we stay “activated” in the stress side of our nervous system more than in the rest and repair state, our bodies are being continually broken down. We need the rest and repair to keep our bodies in a state of optimal health.
Consider this example: You are walking through the woods and a tiger begins to follow you. Your body will pick up a state of fear thereby bringing about an increased breathing rate, heart rate, and muscle tension while your digestion, immune system and other non critical systems slow down. As the danger builds, the more your body prepares to either fight or flee. It is completely biological. Then when the danger has subsided, your body begins to slow back down and your breathing may come back to normal, your heart rate will slow down and muscle tension will change from the fight or flight mode to a more relaxed state. This is how the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems work together.
The only thing is, if the energy of the “event” such as being followed by a tiger in the woods is still located within your cells and your brain, then it begins to take up residence. This one event may not be enough to even cause a long term reaction within you but if the event had a stronger emotional connection with you, then the effects of it would begin to build. As these events build up within your body, the energy is stored until you find a way to discharge it. And that stored energy is “potential energy”, which holds the opportunity to bring about true rest and repair in your body or hold you hostage into the future.
There is a National Geographic video of a polar bear that is shot by a tranquilizer gun so the researches could give it some aid that it needed. When the tranquilizer began to wear off, you saw the bear begin shaking violently. After the shaking stopped, you could witness the polar bear taking a deep breath and then another as his body sank down into a more restful state. The bear was discharging that energy which he had stored up from being chased and tranquilized. It was a healthy thing for the bear to do, and it was automatic because animals just know how to do this. It is normal for them.
So realize that while there are times for us to be in an alert mode and endure stress, that we need to find a calmness in our life and allow ourselves to have that time of meditation, rest and repair. Sometimes it involves removing the tigers of our past, our present and our future from our lives but when we do this, we give so much to ourselves.
Most likely we have all heard about how outside events and influences can become energy trapped in our bodies. If this energy is not discharged from the body, it will continue to hold residence within the cells, nervous system and our brain. While it may not show any visible signs immediately, some event or trigger will eventually trigger the energy and stir it up like a tornado or hurricane stirs up the ground it passes over.
There are two parts to the Autonomic Nervous System. One is the sympathetic branch which takes over when you are going through stress, illness or injury. The parasympathetic branch is in control when you are relaxing, sleeping or in a state of stillness. It is often called the rest and repair state.
Both of these parts of our nervous system are important to our health. One without the other is an imbalance. However, if we stay “activated” in the stress side of our nervous system more than in the rest and repair state, our bodies are being continually broken down. We need the rest and repair to keep our bodies in a state of optimal health.
Consider this example: You are walking through the woods and a tiger begins to follow you. Your body will pick up a state of fear thereby bringing about an increased breathing rate, heart rate, and muscle tension while your digestion, immune system and other non critical systems slow down. As the danger builds, the more your body prepares to either fight or flee. It is completely biological. Then when the danger has subsided, your body begins to slow back down and your breathing may come back to normal, your heart rate will slow down and muscle tension will change from the fight or flight mode to a more relaxed state. This is how the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems work together.
The only thing is, if the energy of the “event” such as being followed by a tiger in the woods is still located within your cells and your brain, then it begins to take up residence. This one event may not be enough to even cause a long term reaction within you but if the event had a stronger emotional connection with you, then the effects of it would begin to build. As these events build up within your body, the energy is stored until you find a way to discharge it. And that stored energy is “potential energy”, which holds the opportunity to bring about true rest and repair in your body or hold you hostage into the future.
There is a National Geographic video of a polar bear that is shot by a tranquilizer gun so the researches could give it some aid that it needed. When the tranquilizer began to wear off, you saw the bear begin shaking violently. After the shaking stopped, you could witness the polar bear taking a deep breath and then another as his body sank down into a more restful state. The bear was discharging that energy which he had stored up from being chased and tranquilized. It was a healthy thing for the bear to do, and it was automatic because animals just know how to do this. It is normal for them.
So realize that while there are times for us to be in an alert mode and endure stress, that we need to find a calmness in our life and allow ourselves to have that time of meditation, rest and repair. Sometimes it involves removing the tigers of our past, our present and our future from our lives but when we do this, we give so much to ourselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)