Living Energy Blog

“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.

Shift now, avoid the rush!

Awakening is a process, a journey with a road that  reaches behind and before us.

Awakening allows for: eyes that open wider, ears that hear more clearly, a mind that broadens and expands to include more and exclude less, and a heart that both widens and opens.

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

 Awakening requires courage, perseverance, commitment and practice:

Courage to face the day, to see how far we’ve come AND how far we have yet to go

Perseverance to show up, shift and move forward while honoring the missteps

Patience to ride the currents—the updrafts and the troughs

Commitment to practice even in the stuck times

 Awakening is allowing our humanness to be touched our spirit and be shaped by it. It is then that resistance can fall away and we can open into the ease of soul, and let it lead the way.

Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.

Herman Hesse

The topic for our Monday, January 18^th radio show is “How do You Really Leave the Past Behind?”  Eckhart Tolle in the Power of Now tells us that we need to be in the present to free ourselves of the past. Actually, we always ONLY live in the present.  We are never in the past nor are we ever in the future.  The past, however, does in many ways condition our lives. 

 Our experiences and beliefs over a lifetime are all factors that influence how we see the world, how we live our lives and how we react to situations.

 Our dilemma is that our past experiences and particularly the way we feel about them …are encoded in our nervous systems, in our very cell tissue and form default reactor patterns that are easily—and unconsciously triggered by people and events. The result is that we often react automatically from the past as it were and are not truly, freely in the present.  

 So what do we do? How do you let the past go?

 Come listen to our show and find out!

On Monday you can click this link http://www.divatoolbox.com/diva-toolbox-radio-/hosts/2007-peg-donahue-and-karen-kallie-living-energy.html or join us from the button on our homepage. 

If you cannot listen live, you can download the recording 12-24 hours after the show and listen at your leisure.

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.

A very dear and wise friend once said to me, “In my culture we are taught to choose well at the start”. Each morning we each have a new start….how will we choose? Your energy matters! Your heart matters! You matter…choose well what energy you live your day(s) in.

Coherence of our energy field helps us to feel better, be healthier and develop stronger abilities to create the circumstances of our lives. Coherence combined with intention is a powerful combination for attracting and creating more of what we DO want to show up for us.

Developing our power to let go of what doesn’t feel good is a large part of bringing our energy into coherence. Learning to let go is a challenging task. As with any learning in life, there is a learning curve. Please be patient with yourself. Generally speaking, the learning involved with all the concepts and tools presented in this program is part of a lifelong journey that can bring you continuously to deeper and broader levels of experience in many areas of your life.

Stop for a moment now and consider these questions….

Can you remember a time when you felt fearful or anxious and it helped you to be prepared?

 Can you think about a time when you experienced fear or anxiety and it was not useful but became a feedback loop within your mind and emotions that kept you all churned up to no avail?

We know that it is healthier to let go of negative feelings and be more positive, and we can learn how to respond to situations from a higher perspective as we go through our lives. Often, though, we do not; because of mental and emotional conditioning that occurs during our lives, particularly during our youth. Conditions and experiences are registered in our energy fields and then become self-referencing feedback loops.

Learning skills that allow you to imprint in your physiology the FEELING of letting go moves the ideal from the realm of thought into the realm of reality and experience.

Reprinted from Chapter 1, 12 Keys for Life and Self Mastery