(I wrote this one weeks ago but forgot to post!)
I feel compelled to take this “now moment” to encourage those who have had the luxury of embracing a personal development, energy healing and/or spiritual path to not only step up and bring these teachings forward, but also do so in ways that are accessible to the masses.
While some of us have devoted decades to learning techniques that qualify us to greatly serve humanity at this time, we are actually in the minority of those who created the time to do so. If you have told someone who hasn’t slowed down in several decades to just “go within and be still,” lately, or suggested things like EFT and EMDR like they’re household acronyms, without explaining what they are or how they can help, this one’s for you. And me!!
Please bear in mind that while we were waking up naturally, with the clocks of our bodies or soft chimes, and easing into our days, many of our peers were being jarred into waking life with jolts like “old phone” alarms. No one taught them the impact loud phone, text and other alerts going off throughout the day have on their nervous systems. It just became a way of life.
They weren’t developing morning practices of meditation, prayer and gratitude; they were launching into their days, scurrying to jobs they may not have even realized they disliked. They sat in rush hour traffic or jammed into overcrowded buses and subways, experiencing more stress by 9am than some of us saw in an average week. Over time, their nervous systems became hardwired to busyness, adrenaline and anxiety.
While we expressed in creative ways that we enjoyed, many of our peers stayed at jobs they believed they had to, in order to “get by.” They didn’t realize they deserved so much more than that. Many are realizing that now.
While we enjoyed fresh air outdoors, they took in stale oxygen from air conditioners and heating systems. While we practiced yoga, tai chi, qigong and pranayama, they sat at desks in unnatural and uncomfortable positions that promoted poor posture and shallow breathing.
As we bolstered our immune systems with organic fruits and veggies, superfoods, fresh and cold-pressed juices, raw food, alkaline-based diets, and ample hydration, they drank soda, diet and sugar-laced energy drinks, and scarfed down fast food, microwaved frozen food and heavily processed foods, with at least 42 ingredients the human body is not designed to ingest, with none of the nutritional value it needs to stay healthy.
A few friends have shared how much more water they are drinking now that they are working from home. File using a restroom whenever my body wants to on my ever-growing list of things it never before occurred to me to be grateful for!
While we watched the miracles of nature unfold before our eyes, they stared at screens. While we recharged with breathwork and went outside in the evenings to watch the sun set and the moon rise, they caffeinated at hours that kept them up all night, just to get home. There, they tried to unwind as quickly and with as little effort as possible after stressful and exhausting days so no, they didn’t check out that drumming, kirtan or reiki circle.
While our weekends centered around nature, self-care, socializing and working out, although we didn’t really consider it that because we were hiking, surfing and doing other activities we love, they tried to squeeze in forced workouts. And maybe some social and outdoor time, if there was any time left after taking care of all the chores they didn’t have time to do during the week.
While we looked forward to beaches and stores being less crowded on Mondays, they dreaded the start of new work weeks. While we invested our time in our passions and creativity, they spent theirs forgetting how to dream. While we counted stars in the sky, they hoped there wouldn’t be too many sheep. As it was, they may have stayed up way too late watching TV.
While we learned about vision boards and manifesting, they were stuck in board rooms, producing, often at the expense of their own ability to even know what they wanted. They got plenty of practice learning what they didn’t want, but without the understanding that it was contrast, there to help them get clear and move toward what they did actually want.
They weren’t chanting positive affirmations, watching “The Secret,” or getting into their vortexes with Abraham. Instead, they were unknowingly ordering more of what they didn’t want with complaints, also known as venting, or talking about the same things over and over in therapy. Wasn’t that supposed to help? After all, the person who listened for five minutes before writing a script for an anxiety medication was a doctor, which they learned to listen to more than their own bodies and emotions.
They didn’t tune in for the latest 21-day meditation series with Oprah and Chopra, or watch inspiring Wayne Dyer specials on PBS; they watched the news, movies and programs designed to blast their nervous systems repeatedly with more cortisol.
As we learned to raise our vibrations, they engaged in habits that depleted their life forces. While we took classes in active listening, conscious communication and uncoupling, they were caught in draining power struggles, where no one was listening to anyone else, not due to lack of love, but lack of education or energy. (Okay, some of us did that more recently then we’d like to admit, also, but at least we had a chance to know better!)
While we took workshops that electrified our souls, they took boring classes to renew licenses or help them get “better” jobs, which triggered the exact same frustrations as the last ones and left them feeling unfulfilled. Only our classes explained why the same unwanted things showed up in our lives, and what our roles were in that.
We spent vacation time (also simply known as “time” for some of us) connecting more fully with who we really are; they tried to distract themselves from who they thought themselves to be.
As we participated with silent retreats, striving to become more conscious and connect more fully with spirit, they connected more fully with the convincing dictates of the untrained mind, and false sources of power like competition and aggression.
We cleared clutter, learned how to release attachments and practiced feng shui. They collected things they didn’t need and lists of projects they didn’t have time to attend to.
We learned to go with the flow and trust that life is always unfolding for good, despite the appearance of circumstances that vividly state otherwise, and that the only person we can change is ourselves, with love, forgiveness and compassion. They tried to change other people and battled with “reality,” with no understanding that it’s a past-tense illusory construct based on past thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and therefore can be changed.
I could go on and on but I’m sure you’ve caught my drift. Too many of my teachers are speaking to their current audiences, not realizing that the masses need these messages right now, and that they need to hear them in ways that actually make sense.
(An aside – if you are recycling old material about stressful times, please at least state that it was recorded in the past. It’s blatantly obvious if you are not referring to what’s happening in our world right now. Better yet, create some new material that speaks to this time!)
I consider myself to be very blessed that I’ve been on this journey for so many decades. Not all my lessons have come easily; by contrast, some of them were so profoundly painful, they almost killed me. But because I have been through those times, and have already been called upon by life to release almost everything I used to identify with, I can be present with these times. I can “hold the space” for those of you who are reeling right now.
If you’re new to this lingo, it means I can stand with you, knowing the truth about you, and the good that will come from this time, in time. I can believe in you until you believe in you. I can offer you hope.
Even the circumstances that feel the most painful in our lives can lead to profound good that couldn’t have come any other way. That does not make it any easier to go through them. But love does. So I am sending a ton of that your way.
I’m here for you.
