EFT-tapping points (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

EFT is a great tool that I use personally as well as with clients. One of the things that I like best about it–besides its effectiveness—is that people can learn it easily and then have a technique that is always available to them.

 The following is an article by Nick Ortner published in the Huffington Post. It is an excellent summary re: the research and practice of EFT. 

Breakthroughs in Energy Psychology: A New Way to Heal the Body and Mind

By Nick Ortner

Yoga, meditation, massage, acupuncture, and herbal remedies; these are just some of Eastern medicine’s contributions to our decades-long search for ways to live well with fewer pills and less-invasive health care. Toward that end, I’m excited to report that there are promising new findings in the field of energy psychology, specifically about a practice called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), or tapping, that is taking our search for holistic solutions to an exciting new level.

What’s unique about EFT is how it combines Eastern wisdom about acupressure, or “meridian points,” in our bodies, with traditional Western psychotherapy. The practice consists of tapping with your fingertips on specific meridian points while talking through traumatic memories and a wide range of emotions. “Acupoint tapping sends signals directly to the stress centers of the mid-brain, not mediated by the frontal lobes (the thinking part, active in talk therapy),” explains Dr. Church, Ph.D., who has been researching and using EFT since 2002. Because EFT simultaneously accesses stress on physical and emotional levels, he adds, “EFT gives you the best of both worlds, body and mind, like getting a massage during a psychotherapy session.”

In fact, it’s EFT’s ability to access the amygdala, an almond-shaped part of your brain that initiates your body’s negative reaction to fear, a process we often refer to as the “fight or flight” response, that makes it so powerful. “By reducing stress,” adds Church, “EFT helps with many problems. There’s a stress component to sports performance, business and financial pressure, and most disease. When you reduce stress in one area of your life, there’s often a beneficial effect in other areas.”
Church estimates that 10 million people worldwide have used tapping, and what’s so exciting is how incredibly quickly it’s alleviating issues like depression, anxiety and insomnia, as well severe PTSD, physical pain, even illness.

At this point you’re probably thinking what most intelligent and sane people are — how is that possible? How can tapping on “meridian points” resolve serious health issues? As an EFT practitioner and the producer of the movie The Tapping Solution, it’s a question I’ve been asked repeatedly over many years. In fact, you’ll often hear me refer to EFT as “this strange tapping thing.” Fortunately, there’s very real science (and results!) behind it.

In partnership with Dr. David Feinstein, Dr. Church has been able to confirm that tapping on specific meridian points has a positive effect on cortisol levels. Cortisol, known as the “stress hormone,” is integral to our body’s “fight or flight” response. Originally designed to help us survive life in the wild, the “fight or flight” response was essential when our ancient ancestors were faced with sudden, brief danger like, let’s say, a tiger. However useful in short bursts, releasing cortisol too frequently, as we seem to be doing in response to the ongoing or “chronic” stress of modern life, may have serious, even scary, impacts on our physical, mental and emotional health. In fact, living in this kind of biological “survival mode” may be making us more vulnerable to everything from cancer to heart disease, and more.

In Dr. Church’s study, 83 participants were separated into three groups. One group was guided through an hour-long EFT session, the second group received an hour of talk therapy, while the third, the control group, received no treatment. The group that did an hour of EFT demonstrated a 24 percent decrease in cortisol levels, while the other two groups showed no real change. The EFT group also exhibited lower levels of psychological symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and others, as measured by the Symptom Assessment-45 (SA-45), a standard psychological assessment tool.

Research suggests that EFT may be so effective because of its perceived ability to balance out the nervous system, leveling off the activity of the parasympathetic and sympathetic regions. Responsible for promoting cell regeneration and relaxation, the parasympathetic region helps to slow your heartbeat, support digestion, and more. The sympathetic system, on the other hand, prepares you for vigorous physical activity by speeding up your heart, constricting your pupils, and so on. As noted in Church’s study, imbalance between these two regions is associated with a long list of health issues, from high blood pressure and heart problems (most often seen in those with an overactive sympathetic region), to depression, fatigue, and weakened immune response (in those with excessive parasympathetic activity).

In his study findings, Church asserts that EFT, which he refers to as “acupoint treatments” produces “a neutral emotional state,” which, biologically speaking, is the gold standard of health and wellness. It’s also the state of well-being people have sought to achieve for millennia through meditation, prayer, yoga, and other mindfulness practices.

Dr. Feinstein, a clinical psychologist who uses EFT in his own practice, adds that EFT is an “unusually precise, rapid, and direct for shifting the neurological underpinnings of a range of psychological problems.” In fact, he adds, “the number of therapists using EFT has been rapidly increasing over the past decade, and now peer-reviewed research is showing that their instincts have been right.  Surprisingly rapid outcomes with a variety of disorders are being documented.”

The results of that documentation can (and will!) impact millions of lives in incredibly powerful ways, which is why I’m excited to share a host of new studies with you here, in future posts. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing your feedback. Are you familiar with tapping? Do you use it yourself, or know others who do? Are there specific topics you’d like me to focus on in future posts?

Nick Ornter is the creator and executive producer of the hit documentary film, “The Tapping Solution.” His new book on EFT will be published by Hay House in April 2013. To get a copy of his free eBook, “Tapping Your Way to Health, Happiness and Abundance” visit TheTappingSolution.com

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• PTSD Energy Therapies (my.psychologytoday.com)

The root chakra is the first chakra that is active when we are born. This center develops mostly through non-verbal means. We sense the attitude of our caretakers – how they respond to our basic needs for food, shelter, touch, safety and belonging. How we are treated during this time has a tremendous influence on what gets registered in our body-mind regarding our capacity to experience safety and have a sense of belonging in the world, as well as on the physical vitality that supports our entire being.

Fear is the predominant feeling of an imbalance in the root chakra. Disruptions of energy in the root chakra typically show in fears regarding survival and security, problems with food and money, and difficulty with grounding and manifestation of material needs.

The issues here are often not easily accessible through conscious or verbal means. Methods that bring unconscious material into conscious awareness need to be coupled with strategies that help go to the root of the issue and help to erase the fear and inability to relax, and help create the necessary infrastructure  feel safe , are particularly effective when working with the energies of this chakra.

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We all have fears and anxieties, real and imagined. They seem to be part of our human journey and perhaps are present to help us grow as souls. There was a time when I believed that knowledge alone could quell the fires of fear and quiet the anxieties that agitate the mind, breed turbulent emotions and disturb sleep. I found that not to be the case! Information can be a great first step, but by itself knowledge and the everyday mind are not equipped for the task of quieting the fears and anxieties that shake our foundations on our walk through life.

The discovery that it is necessary to have methods to transform knowledge into inner knowing, a felt experience that amends our default patterns, was a doorway to freedom for me. The most effective approaches I found were those that included personal energy work and the map of consciousness that the chakra system provides. Once I began to work with my energy system, I found life and living to become much more manageable… and even better—enjoyable and happy! In my opinion, understanding and knowing how to address our personal energy system  offers both a means to remove what agitates and troubles us, as well as the means to build in new self sustaining, nourishing and life enhancing energies.

Any journey toward healing or rebalancing necessarily begins with the root chakra as it is the foundation of our physical and psychological being. It is also the primary mover and shaker concerning fear and anxiety! Strong root chakra energies allow you to face life without being overtaken by unnecessary anxiety and to respond from a grounded strength to difficult, stress filled situations.

ROOT CHAKRA: Your Secret Ally
The root chakra is located at the base of your spine and is the first to develop after birth. This energy center is the foundation of your energy system, the seat of your physical vitality (Kundalini), and a cornerstone of psychological and spiritual well being.

Physically the root correlates with the adrenal glands and all bony structures….It provides support and a framework for both the physical and psychological body. We learn to crawl, walk and stand as the root chakra expands and comes online. In addition, first chakra energy also assists us with putting down roots in the world and standing on our own two feet.

Trauma, family stress and a lack of appropriate nurturing during the first few years of life can unbalance root chakra energies. Early disruption of this energy is recorded within the system and has the result of amplifying reactions to later losses or upsets such as loss of a job, living situation or person in your life. Who among us in the first five years of life did NOT have some circumstance that left its mark on our ability to feel totally safe and secure within the world? My experience is that it is part of the human condition and simply needs to be addressed and not denied or battled with ceaselessly

My Mother, My Self
The positive archetype for the root chakra is the Earth Mother. A person with strong, positive root energy honors and cares for the body as a sacred vessel that carries them in the material world. Physical needs are well cared for which results in healthy vitality as well as abundant energy to flow upward to nurture the higher chakras. The higher chakras help to expand your inner world, and open up greater creative manifestation and expanded spiritual experience.

Physically the root chakra governs the immune, skeletal and lower digestive systems. When root energies are out of balance the physical issues that present are: poor balance, sciatica, chronic fatigue, bowel disorders knee, and leg or foot problems.

Emotionally a lack of first chakra energy manifests as being too rigid and not being open to options for change…change can also be difficult if you are overly grounded —-this is evidenced through being overly controlling, or lacking in imagination or initiative.

If root energy is steady and balanced you can transcend fear—thoughts of loss do not disturb your inner peace, sap your strength or drain your vitality. Fear does not always show up as an outright anxiety disorder or phobia. It can also appear as shyness, dread or fear of criticism. Many people feel fear as an absence of security or as difficulty experiencing inner stability, safety and comfort.

Strong balanced Root Chakra energy enables you to:
 Be open to opportunities that can emerge from the unknown
Experience an inner source of comfort, soothing and ease
Tolerate ambiguity, paradox and not knowing
Move through change with more fluidity
Feel inner security, stability and safety
Care for self in healthy ways

For Root Chakra Balancing Meditations:

Chakra Guided Meditiatons http://bit.ly/wWnQ2J

Energy Aerobics http://bit.ly/w1D4sN

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• The Root Chakra (blissreturned.wordpress.com)

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Chakras in Real Life

How do our chakras operate in real life? Many in the west tend to think of the energy centers as mere metaphors; however they are very real electromagnetic spaces that exist within our bodies and affect our minds and feelings. The chakras are like mini brains that sit at strategic places along our spine. They occupy the same space as major nerve plexus and endocrine glands. In fact they are in intimate conversation with these structures and together they orchestrate our mind body communication and expression in the world. Each chakra has an area of influence in out physical, psychological and spiritual expression. Through understanding our energy via the chakra system we gain mor self awareness as well as more options for real “bottom line” assistance in clearing our stresses and opening to our incredible human potential.

 ROOT CHAKRA
The root chakra is located at the base of your spine and is the first to develop after birth. This energy center is the foundation of your energy system, your physical vitality, and a cornerstone of psychological and spiritual well being.

Physically the root correlates with the adrenal glands and all bony structures….It provides support and a framework for both the physical and psychological body. We learn to crawl, walk and stand as the root chakra expands and comes online. Physically the root chakra governs the immune, skeletal and lower digestive systems. When root energies are out of balance the physical issues that present are: poor balance, sciatica, chronic fatigue, bowel disorders knee, and leg or foot problems.

Psychologically first chakra energy is about putting down roots in the world, being grounded, feeling autonomous enough to be healthily interdependent , as well as with being able to release stress, feel safe, at ease and like you belong  .

Trauma, family stress and a lack of appropriate nurturing during the first few years of life create an imbalance in root chakra energies. The consequence of these early experiences and the resulting imbalance amplify fearful or negative coping and reactions to change. Fear does not always show up as an outright anxiety disorder or phobia. Weak root energies also may appear as shyness, an inner sensation of dread or fear of criticism. Many people feel fear as an absence of security or as difficulty experiencing inner stability, safety and comfort. I think it is safe to say needing to resolve issues on this level is part of the human condiiton!

The state of your root chakra energy affects how you respond to upsets such as loss of a job, living situation or person in your life. Directly addressing the energy of this layer of your field can heal and shift your energy to manage life and events from a place of centeredness, groundedness and inner strength.

Earth Mother Energy
The positive archetype for the root chakra is the Earth Mother. A person with strong, positive root energy honors and cares for the
body as a sacred vessel that carries them in the material world. Physical needs are well cared for which results in healthy vitality, as well as abundant energy to flow upward to open and expand the chakras above. The health of the lower three chakras determine how you experience and behave in the material world and the higher chakras help to expand your inner world. They open up the
capacity for greater creative manifestation and expanded spiritual experience.

Emotionally a lack of first chakra energy manifests as being too rigid and not being open to options for change…change can also be difficult if you are overly grounded —-this is evidenced through being stubborn, overly controlling, lacking in imagination or initiative.

If root energy is steady and balanced you can transcend fear—thoughts of loss do not unduly  disturb your inner peace, sap your strength or drain your vitality. With strong balanced energy serving as the foundation of your system you are more able to allow yourself to see life clearly, to let life unfold as it will, and accept what is while, knowing where your power, responsibility and boundaries lie.  A strong root chakra helps to maintain a calm steady inner experience in spite of what is happening outside or around you.

If you are interested in working with your root chakra energies, our program Relaxation 101 and Energy Aerobics are designed to help you begin your journey. Both are available as a CD or as a download—the downloadable versions are on sale now for 30% off!  Read more here: https://www.livingenergyworks.com/store/cd-programs/relaxation-101-cd-/prod_7.html

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This article and the accompanying video are a good example of the emerging consciousness on the planet.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/why-were-not-afraid

Below are some thoughts worth pondering on the Occupy Movement from Sarah van Gelder co-founder and executive editor of YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions.
“This movement is here for the long term. Some efforts may fade because of cold weather or harsh police responses. Others may self-destruct through faulty process or violent outbreaks. The movement may be idealistic, but it won’t be ideal. Don’t get disillusioned; the demand for a society that serves the 99 percent won’t go away. The movement may morph, but it has become unstoppable. Help it evolve.

The genie is out of the bottle. People will no longer accept the systematic transfer of wealth and power from we the people to the 1 percent. In this remarkable, leaderless movement, each one of the 99 percent who gets involved helps shape history.”

“By naming the issue, the movement has changed the political discourse. No longer can the interests of the 99% be ignored. The movement has unleashed the political power of millions and issued an open invitation to everyone to be part of creating a new world.

Historians may look back at September 2011 as the time when the 99% awoke, named our crisis, and faced the reality that none of our leaders are going to solve it. This is the moment when we realized we would have to act for ourselves.”

Related articles

• 10 Ways to Support the Occupy Movement (alternet.org)

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World events over the past weeks (or months, years, decades!) are providing ample opportunity for us to be shocked, devastated, angry, despondent….and every other emotion humans are capable of! Of course it has always been this way to some extent, but we are indeed living in extraordinary times when everything is amped to the max.

When bad news, disaster or trauma strike our fight flight mechanism is triggered and as long as we can DO something, act in some responsive way all that energy is discharged and we re-balance our systems. Often however, we are mere bystanders to difficult situations,  but our fight/ flight response may still be triggered. We would do well to be aware of this and give ourselves an appropriate outlet for that energy.

There may also be other more subtle things going on beneath our awareness during times of hearing news of such calamities–our own fear, guilt, shame or powerlessness may be activated. We do not want to feel these feelings generally and do almost anything to distance ourselves from them. As strange as it may sound, these can be opportunities to become more self aware and dump some emotional baggage so our trip can be lighter, brighter and more enjoyable! In fact, I believe that a lot of our current dilemmas are an invitation, albeit a challenging one, to do just that.

We are evolving, growing, changing….we are birthing ourselves and a new world at the same time!  And as anyone involved with birth knows, it is messy, uncomfortable, painful, challenging, confusing and yes, you often want out!    But just as with human birth, there is a depth that is gained in the experience and an incredible gift at the end (which we know is only the beginning but that is another story!).

As a species we are evolving and that means waking up. What does that mean? To me it means that we are learning to become more real or authentic. And what does that mean!? It means that we let illusions drop away…about ourselves, others and the world. It means that we clear our own internal clutter so we can perceive more clearly and experience life more directly. It means we are large enough to be with  what is even as we remain committed to transformation where necessary. It means we move toward a clarity that allows for meeting others and the world honestly and openly instead of through the haze and delusion of our filters, fantasies or paranoias. This is the only way to be able to create anything sustainable….individually or globally.  We are seeing the results of using dishonest unsustainable approaches everywhere.

 Some helpful hints for the journey…

Awakening…
Helps a heart to deepen, widens and open
Opens eyes wider and allows ears to hear more clearly
Broadens and expands a mind to include more and exclude less
Encourages acceptance, tolerance and unity consciousness to take root
Is a process—a journey with a road that reaches both behind and before us

 Awakening is an imperfect course with jagged edges that pierce the smoothness of your contentment and explode the inner space of your reality.

 Awakening requires…
Courage, perseverance, commitment and practice
Patience to ride the currents—the updrafts and the troughs
Fortitude to face your fears, the day, imperfection, reality, others, and yourself
Commitment to stay the course, to your truth, to your process– esp. in the stuck times
Perseverance to keep showing up, shifting and moving forward while honoring your missteps

Awakening is easier if you remember to notice how far you’ve come even as you see how far you have to go

 When all is said and done… Awakening is allowing our humanness to be touched by our soul and shaped by it. Once our resistance to this falls away,  we can open to the flow of soul letting it inform and lead us with the result that we then can more fully deliver spirt into human form. From there it is possible to create a world that nourishes, sustains and supports every one.

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Over the past few decades the cosmos has gifted us with a steady layering in of new energies that have challenged us to adapt, change and adjust to a transforming world. Global shifts are affecting everyone even those who have not had to face a major catastrophe or natural disaster. We each are being shaken, confronted with an opportunity to wake up to a reality without  illusion –not just to accommodate, but to live from a more authentic inner core and participate in the creation of a new world. We do not need to be revolutionaries on a global level (unless we feel called to operate on that level), but we do need to and can  take care of our own corner of the world—ourselves—and manage our energy so that we can respond from strength rather than react from fear to change.

Change typically begins with the erosion, dissolution or destruction of the old. This is naturally accompanied by feelings of anxiety, confusion and fear as foundations crumble and roots are shaken or torn out altogether. Understanding the energy and structure of your root chakra helps begin the process of moving through change with more ease and grace. Focusing on healing and building new energy at this level contributes to building a new, strong foundation for your life as you move forward.

 Our energy and nervous systems —the state of our inner nation—-has a lot to do with how we will experience, process, and respond to the new energy taking up resonance in our universe.   The strength, resonance and alignment of our personal energy also affect what and how we will create in our new world.

 Chakras in Real Life
How do our chakras operate in real life? Many in the west tend to think of the energy centers as mere metaphors; however they are very real electromagnetic spaces that exist within our bodies and affect our minds and feelings. The chakras are like mini brains that sit at strategic places along our spine. They occupy the same space as major nerve plexus and endocrine glands. In fact they are in intimate conversation with these structures and together they orchestrate our mind body communication and expression in the world.

 Root Chakra: Qualities and Influence
The root chakra is located at the base of your spine and is the first to develop after birth. This energy center is the foundation of your energy system, your physical vitality, and a cornerstone of psychological and spiritual well being.

Physically the root correlates with the adrenal glands and all bony structures….It provides support and a framework for both the physical and psychological body. We learn to crawl, walk and stand as the root chakra expands and comes online. Physically the root chakra governs the immune, skeletal and lower digestive systems. When root energies are out of balance the  physical issues that present are: poor balance, sciatica, chronic fatigue,  bowel disorders knee, and leg or foot problems.

 Psychologically first chakra energy assists us with putting down roots in the world and standing
on our own two feet.

 Trauma, family stress and a lack of appropriate nurturing during the first few years of life create an imbalance in root chakra energies. The consequence of these early experiences and the resulting imbalance amplify fearful or negative coping and reactions to change. Fear does not always show up as an outright anxiety disorder or phobia. It can also appear as shyness, dread or fear of criticism. Many people feel fear as an absence of security or as difficulty experiencing inner stability, safety and comfort.

The state of your root chakra energy affects how you respond to upsets such as loss of a job, living situation or person in your life. Directly addressing the energy of this layer of your field can heal and shift your energy to manage life and events from a place of centeredness, groundedness and inner strength.

Spirtually strong, balanced root chakras contribute to feelings of really being a child of the universe with all the security, sense of belonging and capacity to connect therin. 

 Earth Mother Energy
The positive archetype for the root chakra is the Earth Mother. A person with strong, positive root energy honors and cares for the body as a sacred vessel that carries them in the material world. Physical needs are well cared for which results in healthy vitality, as well as abundant energy to flow upward to open and expand the chakras above. The health of the lower three chakras determine how you experience and behave in the material world and the higher chakras help to expand your inner world. They open up the capacity for greater creative manifestation and expanded spiritual experience.

Emotionally a lack of first chakra energy manifests as being too rigid and not being open to options for change…change can also be difficult if you are overly grounded —-this is evidenced through being stubborn, overly controlling, lacking in imagination or initiative.

If root energy is steady and balanced you can transcend fear—thoughts of loss do not disturb your inner peace, sap your strength or drain your vitality. With strong balanced energy serving as the foundation of your system you are more able to allow yourself to see life clearly, to let life unfold as it will, and accept what is while, knowing where your power, responsibility and boundaries lie.  A strong root chakra helps to maintain a calm steady inner experience in spite of what is happening outside or around you.

If you are interested in working with your root chakra energies, our program Relaxation 101 is a great 21 minute relaxation/meditation designed to help you begin your journey. Other programs include information and techniques for the root chakra while addressing the entire energy system. You can find complete descriptions of what to expect in each program here:    https://www.livingenergyworks.com/store/?ccUser=

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The mural above is titled Understanding. There are many things in our world that we wish to understand however a forgotten dimension often is our very own selves!

Our five senses compellingly draw our attention to the outer physical world. With such a strong outer directed focus, it quite naturally follows that we would look for our inner needs to be filled through external material sources. As most are painfully aware, this is usually a short lived and unsatisfying solution. Such an orientation typically leads to blame, criticism, judgments, and compulsivity (repetitive behaviors expecting a different outcome) rather than the outcome we truly desire.

Being outwardly directed also tends to produce reliance on a spiritual being external to ourselves. We beseech this Greater Being to bestow favors upon us –and we continue to define ourselves through the physical, roles and material possessions. This way of being is one of limited consciousness , of not having the full depth, breadth and expansiveness of our inner wisdom/ nature. Paradoxically, it is a mind set that both begins and ends in fear. An outer focus leaves us up one day down the next with no center to hold on to. Life is about change. Consciousness that is attached to the outer world
does not help us to move with the cycles of change. This does not help us to increase our capacity to function in the world in a meaningful way that leads to peace, joy & happiness.

Our sixth sense or intuitive nature draws our attention inward and assists us to truly find the means to resolve issues, release struggle and longing and receive the true fulfillment of our deepest desires.

This inner path allows us to examine thoughts, feelings and beliefs that no longer serve us and lead to problems. It opens the way to creative problem solving. Expanding our consciousness beyond the physical and material world awakens us to who we truly are. From there we can transcend limitations, expand creative ability, and step into true power, tolerance, understanding and vitality.

To view ourselves as energetic entities helps us to understand the nature of the authentic self at a deeper level while providing a
very effective way to actively work with ourselves to be able to live more from that center. However, it is not enough to know that we are spiritual/energetic beings. We need to understand what it is specifically that deters us from living fully from that perspective. We need to know how our life experiences have affected us. Knowledge is a first step toward healing. Our
personal history has helped shape our ways of being in the world. We need to understand the patterns we have formed and have effective ways to release the detrimental effects. Working from a level that incorporates the energy of mind, body and
spirit goes to where the deepest core of our issues lie and helps to release them there where they were embedded.

For instance, you may have experienced deep grief in the past. You understand that this had a profound effect on you. You can describe what happened, how this person was important to you, what (if any) unfinished business there is, and how it is currently impacting your life. If you do not have the means to erase the effects from your mind/body/energy system and install new feelings and behaviors, then you may continue to be affected by the unresolved grief, consciously or unconsciously.

A major pathway toward living more from our authentic self is to experience emotions as they arise, allow them proper expression and have a means to effectively release them from our system. Then all our energy becomes available to us to live in the present  more centered in our true self or nature. It is from that core of being that all else flows!

Questions, questions, questions, they have haunted me all my life! The ones below have drifted in my consciousness for some time and this past weekend a presentation I attended lifted them into sharp focus in a profound way. This experience is not filled with answers as much as it is with a profound appreciation for the rawness of living and loving fully, as well as an awareness of the enormous courage and strength that is necessitated to walk this human path, be truly connected with the love that we are and allow it to flow.

As always, would love to hear what you think/feel!

Is it easier to accept our flawed nature than our goodness, our potential, the love that we are in our deepest hearts ?

What is it like to sit in the deep stillness of your own heart and feel who you truly are?

Does our preoccupation with doing, improving, striving keep us from a direct, honest experience of not only  ourselves but of the world? 

What would it be like to take in and embody the truth expressed in the following quote instead of simply being fascinated with the concept or of understanding/expressing it at the level of the mind rather than the heart?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson

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“In a moment we can catch a glimpse of all that we can be and in a moment we can lose it all to fear.” Nelson Mandela

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.

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.

Ultimately, developing coherence of your energy field/all aspects of your Being which leads to an ability to live from a  higher consciousness, the capacity 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.