One of the most important secrets I've learned is that the hardest or scariest experiences that we have are actually our most powerful catalysts to joy and freedom. All of us have experienced feelings we'd rather not experience. Most of us label these negative emotions, and they include fear, guilt, shame, anger, jealousy and many more. When I first started facing these emotions, rather than stuffing them down or ignoring them, I was pretty confused about the process. I learned that feeling these emotions could bring me liberation. But I'd been feeling them all along! But I discovered that there is a subtle but powerful distinction in the way that we relate to these emotions in order to heal them. Emotions that trap us are ones that we've judged as bad, and pushed away or stuffed down. But in the process of resisting an emotional experience, we've aligned ourselves with that particular emotion. To illustrate how this works, think of a nemesis you've had, whether in the past or today. Someone you just can't stand. When you were in the peak of that negative relationship, did you think about them? Were they constantly on your mind, or in the back of your mind? Of course. There's a powerful saying - what we resist persists. And it's completely true, in my experience. Only once we've moved through the strongest emotions can we get to a point of neutrality, which is the place from which we have the most control over our experience. As long as you're hating someone, you're in relationship with them. Once you've let go of the hatred, you've moved out of that toxic relationship. Here are some steps to move through the emotional experience of any powerful emotion - good or bad - to limit its influence over you. And yes, even positive emotions can be limiting if we overly identify with them. Neutrality is the most powerful place, and it's a surprisingly blissful experience too.
I've included a short guided meditation below to take you through this process. Relax and enjoy! And please share your experiences and questions in the comments! Gratitude is "in" these days. And for good reason. It's a joyful, high frequency emotion that can attract more wonderful things to be grateful about. We're told to use gratitude journals or daily rituals to increase our levels of gratitude. And these can certainly help. But they also relegate gratitude to a specific corner of our life that has little to do with the rest of us. And that, by its very nature, limits its impact on us. In order to really reap the benefits of gratitude, we can increase our awareness and use of it in real time. This means putting our attention on the things that we're grateful for, as they occur. Here are some tools to play with over the course of your day.
How has gratitude shaped your relationship with the world? What are your favorite gratitude practices? Ever since I left the world of office buildings and paychecks, I've been going down a path where I could only see a few steps in front of me. I thought I would become a consultant, then I veered down the path of coaching. I thought I would do only "socially acceptable" career coaching, then I was drawn more to life coaching. I started integrating my propensity for healing the spirit and the depth of my coaching work soared. I opened up to the truth of the intuitive and mediumship abilities I'd been shutting out since childhood and my work pushed me and my clients to an even deeper level of impact. Every step of the way it's been a bit scarier and a bit more freeing to open myself even wider to the truth of myself and facing my fears of what people might say about who I am and what I can do. And with every step I move deeper into the mystery of who I am and what I'm longing to express to the world. And so here I am, ready to share and confess the next step of what's wanting to be expressed through me, petrified of the hypothetical "they" as in what "they might think." But not needing to live my life through the hypothetical judges on the sidelines of my life anymore. So here's my latest truth. I work with the Archangels, a body of angels who have been available to humanity and to all of creation since the dawning of that which we know as the universe (or more accurately the multiverse). Not only do the Archangels aid in my healing work and the readings that I do, but I am being called to bring forth more truths about how they show up in our lives. And to act as a liaison to those who seek their guidance, their healing and their divine influence in their lives. As someone who's spent the bulk of her life trying to squeeze myself into social norms, I know how this sounds. And I know that this may or may not resonate with you. So here's my call to action.
Namaste :) |