Living Energy Blog

We forget in the stress of daily life that we can choose to shift our feelings away from the negative and toward the positive. Each time we decide to “practice happiness” we strengthen the soul muscle that will help us create more of what we do want and less of what we don’t want.

We may not be able to changes some of the difiicult things that emerge in life, but we can always choose how we want to feel and how we want to respond. As we do, things have a way of shifting in the outer world as well. BUT perhaps even more important, we strengthen and make our energy more coherent and increase the stability of our inner resources….which not only helps us to rise to challenges, but also helps to bring about more positive circumstances, people, places and things…the kind of circular thinking that is helpful instead of soul deadening.

Find, notice a moment where you can create or experience happiness. Make it a game to find as many times throughout the day as you can to focus on a happy feeling. Focus on it, flow with it, expand into it without grasping. See how many happy moments you can collect (seems more useful that some of the other stuff we collect!  )

Happy holiday weeknd to all!

“Fear constitutes a much larger and more comprehensive presence than has yet been realized. Beginning in the nineteenth century, therapeutic psychology sought to identify the symptoms related to this phenomenon. The types of fear recognized included hysteria, behind which some trauma, real or imaged, was always to be found; shell shock or combat neurosis, now commonly called post-traumatic stress syndrome, which was first investigated after World War I; abuse and domestic violence; fear of natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, or fire; individual phobias such as panic attacks, anxieties, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. 

The reality of fear is far more wide-ranging, however. Working with victims of trauma does little to impede the larger presence of fear in the world. The goal is to become more conscious of what we are dealing with and to recognize that different fears require different capacity of soul to overcome them. The need is not to remove fear from the world, but instead to develop in ourselves the psychic capacity to confront its destructive power. In this realm, consciousness, coupled with love, is everything. Enlarging consciousness to include an awareness of soul allows a healthy struggle with fear, and love makes possible its transformation, not just within ourselves but also within the world.” Robert Sardello, Freeing the Soul From Fear

Training ourselves to release fear and choosing to feel love more often—instead–helps to attune our energy to more of what we DO want to experience. 

It takes energy to move beyond fear.  We must go to a level other than the cognitive to alleviate fear and anxiety.  A preventative approach is very helpful. By reconditioning our nervous systems through daily meditation or deep relaxation training we develop stronger systems that do not knee jerk into a fear response as easily. This also makes us more keenly aware of when a feeling is beginning and we can release it earlier rather than later when it has had time to build into something too difficult to manage.

 Introspection that helps identify old unprocessed material that may be causing your system to be overly sensitive is also useful. In addition, if there are long standing issues in regard to chronic anxiety and fear then a nutritional status check is warranted. Our systems need certain nutrients to function properly. The ability to maintain proper inner balance is made more difficult if the proper nutrients are not available.

 Learning skills that work to ‘erase’ the effects of old input and unconscious automatic reactions are also useful. These methods can work ‘on the spot’ to reduce fear and anxiety as well as erasing lifelong patterns. The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is one such approach.  Emotional Freedom and Healing is another.

Meditation techniques that help you learn how to remain present and open to difficult feelings with no resistance, simply observing them without your normal responses can be very powerful ways of releasing embedded patterns of fear.

 Breathwork is another technique that functions well as an on the spot remedy as well as a preventative one. Most people who experience a great deal of fear or anxiety have breathing patterns that are a contributing factor.  Sit quiet for a moment and listen to your pattern.  After you get a sense for it, breathe consciously.  Breathe slowly and deeply.  Pull your breath as deep into your abdomen as you can.  Hold it for a few seconds and then slowly let it go.  Repeating this process for five or ten minutes at a time is an excellent way to bring yourself into the present moment.

 Ultimately, developing higher consciousness, an ability to live from a higher level of awareness or the authentic self, is perhaps the best solution to alleviating fear and anxiety. However, it is important to remember that this is a process and not an event. It requires a deep fundamental shift within, a commitment and participation in order to be cultivated and become a way of BEING. 

 Shift to being present at all times.  You will then live in the space where fear does not exist.

Both our recorded programs, 12 Keys for Life and Self Mastery and Feng Shui and Chakras: Inner and Outer Balance, include helpful information about releasing fear, as well as guided exercises to help you learn methods to permanently release fear’s grasp.

Although fear may seem to have many causes, it is said that the primary underlying cause is fear of death.  Fear of death is a fear of bringing something to an end. That “something” comes in many disguises.  Some of the disguises you may be familiar with are fear of being wrong, fear of not being good enough, fear of not measuring up to someone else’s expectations, fear of failure, fear of being hurt, fear of the unknown.  Fear of change can be due to the sadness of saying goodbye and leaving someone or something behind, as well as fear of the unknown future looming ahead after the loss.

 There are certainly situations in life that justify a fear response. In those cases it is a good thing that our adrenaline pumps and we are given the energy to fight or flee. In those cases we are prepared to do what is needed to get out of harm’s way and return to safety. Once safety returns our natural balancing mechanism brings us back to a neutral state.

 The problem comes when this same fear response is activated by things that are not life threatening. In our present culture it is not unusual for this natural self-protective mechanism to be overly sensitized and active. This can result in a sense of chronic anxiety and tension or a hair trigger response to the smallest stimuli. All that fascinating fight/ flight/freeze physiology has been activated and has nowhere to go as it is not used up in the effort to regain safety.  As a result our fear deepens and limits our daily lives.

 When this occurs there tends to be an emotional paralysis or overload that happens which is accompanied by an inability to think clearly and make good decisions and choices. When our systems are thus set in motion we can feel as if we are under a threat to our lives; it all feels that important as our neurology and biochemistry rocks and rolls within causing us to feel out of control. We have all had that feeling that our minds know that our reactions are over the top but that knowing seems useless to calm our emotions.

 It takes energy to move beyond fear.  We must go to a level other than the cognitive to alleviate fear and anxiety.  

Tomorrow—moving beyond fear.

F.E.A.R.

 False Evidence Appearing Real

 FEAR! False? Not real?

 How can we say that?

Everyone knows we all feel fear and it’s real!

What this acronym hints at is that there is a lot of fear that is unnecessary….perhaps most!

According to Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, fear is always a projection of something that might happen, not something that is happening now.  When we let our mind wander into the future, we create an anxiety gap between what is real and what we are projecting to be real.  The future is not real.  Only the present is real.

 Fear is a psychological condition that is separate and separates us from who we really are.  It comes in many forms such as nervousness, unease, worry, dread, anxiety and more.  If we allow it, fear can grip us so tight that we lose touch with our inner and true self.  Fear separates us from our true power and our inner source.

 Fear manifests in our minds through our ego self.  When we identify with our lower mind, the ego runs our life.  When we let fear take over, we yield our personal power to others.  When we identify with our heart, we can become the creator of our lives.  There is no place for fear in the heart.  When it comes down to it, fear is not real. 

 Although fear may seem to have many causes…stay tuned, more to follow on Thurs. re: the causes as well as the antidotes for fear.

What does it mean to reinvent yourself? How do you do it? What are the steps?

 Join us on Monday at 10 A.M. when we will be talking with Debby Hoffman Adair about this topic. Debby will be sharing her experience and expertise in regards to transitioning through major changes in our lives.

 Debby is an award winning presenter, and the president of Positive Results Seminars. Her programs reflect her mission statement: to help people see the possibilities within themselves and create the results they want—Positive Results! Her programs are filled with information, motivation, inspiration, and of course—Fun!

 We hope you will join us as Debby shares how she reinvented herself from house wife to entrepreneur, overcame shyness, conquered her fear of public speaking, and transformed herself into a professional speaker and author.

If you cannot join us live, please listen to the recording at your leisure.

Shift now, avoid the rush!

It is amazing to see the outpouring of help that arises in the world when disaster strikes such as it has in Haiti this week. Compassion, empathy and a sincere desire to aid our fellow humans —the best in us—is openly displayed and freely given in times of great need. This is truly heartening—a kind of counterbalance to the terror and violence we also witness at times in our world and in our fellow humans.

 When disaster strikes it can rock the very foundation of our individual and collective psyches. It is  as though our deepest fears are shaken loose from the comfortable bed where they have been lying and rise up to remind us that they are still there. We become aware once again that safety is not a guarantee in this world. The truly terrifying emotion that gets triggered in such circumstances is one of powerlessness.

 Someone once said that the emotion we most feared was one of powerlessness. My experience and observation in this lifetime is that this is probably true. We REALLY do NOT like to feel that we are powerless in any area of our lives.

 Daily life, at least in most of the western world, can lull us into a sense of complacency where we can “forget” about this issue of powerlessness. Of course unconscious behaviors show us that in fact some part of us is trying mightily to hang on to a feeling of power, control and safety. However, when catastrophe strikes the mighty energy of fear awakens.

 Each person has their own unique way to defend or cope with the arousal of such fear. Some go on the offensive and cast hateful (and often totally illogical) blame on others. Some creatively weave stories that assign power to an external source with rules and regulations that they themselves just happen to be in alignment with, but the folks who are suffering the calamity are not and hence their troubles.  In fact it may be that we all carry some version of this story in our deepest of hidden places—be good, do this, follow that and no harm will come to you! But disaster has a way of shaking our belief systems and opening us up to our fears about safety, security, as well as to what is really important. This can be a time when we can discover things about ourselves and choose (or be forced!) to grow and develop aspects of ourselves that we may not otherwise.

 If we ask questions about our deepest fears…if we confront them and look to what it would take to dissolve them, heal them, let them go…and yes, maybe even accept that we may have to live with some part of them and learn to manage them more grace-fully.

 Our true power lies within the better part of ourselves, in our spiritual nature. We can choose to grow and develop this aspect—to learn how to attune to the energy of love, peace and ease and allow it to flow through us even in an imperfect world. Aligning with the energy of these higher qualities strengthens us and those around us through a kind of ripple effect.

 Learning to root and ground ourselves in these stronger energies opens us up so we become more aware of healthier choices and responses to our world –ones that nourish and enhance ourselves, others and the world. Centering in these energies brings clarity, a higher way of knowing and Being to us. Our choices and responses can become more kind, loving and wise.

 A question that often is asked is, “Is there a higher purpose in the disasters that strike us? “  Perhaps the answer is that is our choice. Perhaps the real question needs to be, “How do we want to respond to the challenges and conditions of our lives?” We can choose to develop our awareness and consciousness. We can choose to work toward an integration of mind and heart. It is there that we can find the deep choice of wisdom and love.

Great video on interaction of mind, experience and brain and the benefits of developing  mindfulness. Cultivating this state helps to improve  health, relationships, and the ability to learn and enjoy life. This video is focused on children but it has great wisdom for all of us!

Fear in all its forms, doubt, anxiety, uncertainty, is a feeling–a vibration that you can shift.

We can work with our minds to shift our energy or we can work directly with our energy to shift our minds—both work but I find it simpler, more effective and efficient to go directly to working with the energy—fewer stories, less resistance to change  and it is going to the source!

To beginto work from the level of energy: Choose to center within yourself and ground your energy (see Articles and Tips elsewhere on this site for information regarding these two concepts). Once grounded you can more easily place your attention on thoughts and feelings that open and build energy.

 Open from the inside out and feel the miracle of your life force coursing through you. Once in touch with your inner energy in this way it becomes easier to place your mind (feeling and thought) on things that enliven, nourish and strengthen you. As you become stronger, lighter and brighter in your energy you can more easily connect to soul and flow with more joy, peace and love.