I have been noticing a pattern of "personalizing" as clients & friends, including myself, navigate this time of dynamic change. I have found it to be considerably challenging to maintain a focus of self exploration while also participating with awareness in the diverse changes taking place in the world right now. There seems to be an exaggerated state of "disorientation" being experienced by those who tune-in with sensitivity to the subtle energies that link us in our collective consciousness. A persistent sense of overwhelm or fullness is present. Other challenges include an increased need for sleep, depressed energy levels, anxiousness, scattered or obsessive thoughts, memory disruption, physical unrest, amplified emotional tension and intensified discharges. Release is essential but often difficult to connect with and allow. The habit is to follow the inclination to qualify these experiences with an ordinary overview: "I feel depressed," "I just can't seem to focus," I feel like crying for no reason," I feel so tired lately," I just feel so irritable," "I don't feel inspired or clear about anything." However, there is nothing ordinary about this time in our history.
We are so accustomed to making our experiences personal, reducing our exchanges with life into obsessive, unfulfilling self-reprimands: I didn't do enough, I said too much. With everything we are taught to take into consideration when engaging with ourselves & the world, it is important to be reflective of your self-connection: "How do I feel about what happened?" "How did that affect me?" The habit of making things personal interferes with our inner lens being able to focus and provide us this reflecting space, like holding a book too close to your eyes so that the words appear blurry & unrecognizable. A softer focus allows for the contemplation and observation that yields the consideration we are seeking ~ that we matter.
So how do we translate our experiences in a way that nurtures us at our core? We have the power to cultivate anxiety & self doubt or an expansion of peace & connectedness within ourselves simply through the way we translate. Interpreting your experience as I feel depressed shrinks your identity into a generalization, providing both containment and confinement. Generalizations are useful in supplementing a sense of safety when we are challenged by "too much" unknown. We are temporarily comforted by the feeling that "at least I know this." The need for temporary comfort is real at times, but ultimately, we ache to be nourished by having access to the inner connections that bring us into awareness and encourage us to flourish & grow.
Instead of generalizing, try noticing your body sensations. How could you describe the sensations in your body right now? If you have difficulty bringing this internal awareness into words, then attempt to describe the sensations you like different from the ones you don't like. Use contrast to make distinctions: "This part feels hot; this area feels cold," or tingly versus stagnant, or empty versus full. The awareness of sensations in the body brings us into a more personalized connection with ourselves. It allows us to focus on what is known in this moment, and permit the rest of the unknown variables to just be in our awareness for now.
There will be days when everything will feel so personal: Why do I feel this way? What's wrong with me? Let questions like these be a reminder that your lens needs softening. Sometimes, this can be achieved by posing a different inquiry:
We are so accustomed to making our experiences personal, reducing our exchanges with life into obsessive, unfulfilling self-reprimands: I didn't do enough, I said too much. With everything we are taught to take into consideration when engaging with ourselves & the world, it is important to be reflective of your self-connection: "How do I feel about what happened?" "How did that affect me?" The habit of making things personal interferes with our inner lens being able to focus and provide us this reflecting space, like holding a book too close to your eyes so that the words appear blurry & unrecognizable. A softer focus allows for the contemplation and observation that yields the consideration we are seeking ~ that we matter.
So how do we translate our experiences in a way that nurtures us at our core? We have the power to cultivate anxiety & self doubt or an expansion of peace & connectedness within ourselves simply through the way we translate. Interpreting your experience as I feel depressed shrinks your identity into a generalization, providing both containment and confinement. Generalizations are useful in supplementing a sense of safety when we are challenged by "too much" unknown. We are temporarily comforted by the feeling that "at least I know this." The need for temporary comfort is real at times, but ultimately, we ache to be nourished by having access to the inner connections that bring us into awareness and encourage us to flourish & grow.
Instead of generalizing, try noticing your body sensations. How could you describe the sensations in your body right now? If you have difficulty bringing this internal awareness into words, then attempt to describe the sensations you like different from the ones you don't like. Use contrast to make distinctions: "This part feels hot; this area feels cold," or tingly versus stagnant, or empty versus full. The awareness of sensations in the body brings us into a more personalized connection with ourselves. It allows us to focus on what is known in this moment, and permit the rest of the unknown variables to just be in our awareness for now.
There will be days when everything will feel so personal: Why do I feel this way? What's wrong with me? Let questions like these be a reminder that your lens needs softening. Sometimes, this can be achieved by posing a different inquiry:
How am I meant to grow by being intimately connected
to these larger changes?
What ways can I nourish myself today to feel safe in my body
so I can be more allowing of these changes?
What is the advantage for me to be stretched in this way?
Remember to allow for movement as you notice your internal sensations. Gently rock your body side-to-side or front-to-back, or in small circular motions, as your attention follows your breath. Use your hands to massage an area and generate movement in your tissue & fluids to remind yourself of the inner fluidity that is a resource for allowing rather than resistance. Make a sound that represents the held energy in a place that is too full. Make a different sound to represent the openness found in another location you can touch. Bring your attention & touch to a place on your body that speaks more softly than your distress. Then bring a drop of that softness in your hands as you touch the area that hold the "problem." Finish with your hands resting back in the place of softness, peacefullness or less strain as you breathe into the recognition of ease.
With so many people feeling so many things all at the same time that the collective is undergoing so much change, it is imperative that we practice not making it personal. When your translation makes it "too much" about you, you will feel drained. This will be your cue to remember. This time definitely requires self reflection, but with a softer focus so as to not inundate your body system with so much input that you are challenged to respond from self protection & generalizations. We are ALL undergoing significant change right now, whether we register these shifts consciously or not. Each individual's ability to be aware of themselves while also being aware of the collective reorganization is deperately needed during this time. We are much more useful as conduits, offering a model for allowing that can support others who are confronting the unknown aspects of their experiences in brand new ways.
This is such an important time to practice, as often as you can, not making it personal. You do matter; however, it's not about you. And for the record, there is nothing wrong with you. Instead, consider that you are taking part in a rite of passage, an initiation of consciousness that requires your full participation to allow yourself to be changed as part of the building momentum for a collective shift. You are that important to humanity's advancement.
With so many people feeling so many things all at the same time that the collective is undergoing so much change, it is imperative that we practice not making it personal. When your translation makes it "too much" about you, you will feel drained. This will be your cue to remember. This time definitely requires self reflection, but with a softer focus so as to not inundate your body system with so much input that you are challenged to respond from self protection & generalizations. We are ALL undergoing significant change right now, whether we register these shifts consciously or not. Each individual's ability to be aware of themselves while also being aware of the collective reorganization is deperately needed during this time. We are much more useful as conduits, offering a model for allowing that can support others who are confronting the unknown aspects of their experiences in brand new ways.
This is such an important time to practice, as often as you can, not making it personal. You do matter; however, it's not about you. And for the record, there is nothing wrong with you. Instead, consider that you are taking part in a rite of passage, an initiation of consciousness that requires your full participation to allow yourself to be changed as part of the building momentum for a collective shift. You are that important to humanity's advancement.
No comments:
Post a Comment