| Calming the Emotional Waves of Stress and Anxiety |
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Calming the Emotional Waves Of Stress and Anxiety
(The following words I wrote to a client who was experiencing difficulty in light of facing challenging life experiences as highlighted in the Astrology
So, here is the response to my client in crisis: Hi…. I understand that you are experiencing a fair share of stress and you feel weighted, confused and anxious. I would like to offer that beyond the outer realities you are experiencing what is happening is that your imagination is reacting and perhaps over-reacting. That is what the imagination can do. While it is designed to serve us by offerring a stream of interpreations so we can better understand what is happenning and what how to best respond, our imagination can also be the problem itself.
I will bring more attention to this below, but first becoming aware of your breathing is a basic key technique as well. Do the following exercise. Breathe deep into your feet and allow the air to fill your body chambers from the bottom up and the release the air slowly. All the while, be watchful of the breath and tune in to the actual sensations your body is experiencing. It should produce a stretching from the inside out. Beyond that benefit, it will break the trace of the mind that is being lead by reactive emotions producing negative hallucinations. Choose to accept what is, how you feel and with the help of finding reasons to be grateful, as opposed to indulging in feeling sorry for you - a common human tendency, simply choose to be happy! This is where free will choice very subtly yet effectively will transport your consciousness to a higher plane above that of emotional frenzy!
Moving beyond the basics of tending to the body stress from the emotional reaction, this little article grew out of my response.
Calming the Emotional Waves Stirred into Frenzy by Imagination
I referred to it this way, emphasizing the word imagination because much of what we perceive when stressed is conjured by the imagination. When this occurs, it can generally be referred to as 'negative hallucination'. When we slip into survival mode our imagination kicks into gear. This can create all kinds of excessive reactions. Worry is the basic one, gnawing anxiety can emerge if the worry is not checked, despair can set in next and with it comes matter-of-fact conclusions which indicate that the internal connection is disconnected or severed. I will expand upon this further below and offer strategies. Rather than see them simply as survival mechanisms, recognize that stressful times can be turned into spiritual victories. I would like to quickly add, that imagination is, of course, a positive faculty and learning to soar on its wings is one of life’s greater joys. On the other hand, it can work against us if we are not in control of it, in the most positive sense. This implies emotional self-control which is one of the most important aspects of cultivating a genuine and authentic spiritual state. This state indicates a clear connection to ones own core and source. It implies strength of character. The ability to stay cool and calm under stressful conditions is its own reward. Further, it contributes to others feeling calm as well and in as much as this is true, it can be said that this spiritual strength transcending the individual makes it all the more spiritual. Spiritual in this respect refers to a deep sense of unity than transcends ones individuality. Some might also accurately refer to it as spiritual leadership. Beyond roles and titles, we each have access to this state but the techniques and tools offered above must be recognized, understood, practiced and integrated. If the above sounds at all familiar, please read on. More importantly, act on the advice given and share it with others as well.
The imagination in reaction will begin to produce many fearful scenarios and has been referred to as negative hallucination. The instinct to survive gets triggered and it begins. Survival occurs on any of a variety of levels. I can be physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual. Most of it is reaction. This is where Eckart Tolle's book called PRACTICING THE POWER OF NOW can prove very helpful. Accessing a deeper layer of our being as an evolving soul can lead us to see any situation we are in both from new and hopefully wider angles and to see them as opportunities to exercise inner strength. This includes healthy surrender and detachment, which is not the same as indifference. It means acceptance of what is; letting go of control which the ego tends to do instinctively as a survival mechanism.
I encourage that you buy Tolle's book, that one in particular! It will help you from wandering aimlessly in the astral mind - where imagination and emotion mingle. Mastering our emotions is a fundamental aspect of life. It is not so much about controlling feelings as it is about controlling the imagination. Instinctual responses lead to fight or flight reactions. Accessing the intuition, which is linked to the heart chakra, that region literally in the center of your chest and the power of now, are the keys to rising above these reactions. In addition to the techniques of awareness and exercises Tolle's book offers; it is also beneficial to actively exercise appreciation and gratitude. Again, this is an activation of the heart. Everyone is responsible for their own emotions. Be careful about getting lost in 'thinking about how you are supposed to feel'. It is inauthentic. Allow yourself to simply feel what you feel - access your truth, trust it and be at peace. There is a deeper destiny. Life is not merely random. However, in order for destiny to flow smoothly, we are wise to flow with what we truly feel. This exists beneath what we feel we ‘should’ feel and is free of emotional reactions that turn the imagination wheels producing negative scenarios. You may well have extra work to do here than others may. Do not compare. Rather, simply accept your situation and activate the spiritual process mentioned above so as to strengthen your connection with your heart – accessing your feelings, your truth, and the portal to your soul. This process of self-aware and self-embrace is a basis of spiritual life. While spiritual life might be referred to as our collective destiny as a species, it is also our actual state as human beings. The plan is expressed as many levels and layers of dimensionality from the light still spiritual to the dense moving material. All things material is that full range of dimensions, spanning the inner to the outer. Quantum Physicists have already acknowledged layers of dimensions in the etheric. There are probably many layers there that they have yet to discover, and entirely different categories of dimensions as well, like the emotional and the mental. Of course, physicists measure the material and they are not trained as spiritualists and psychologists so would not know how to measure these. It is also O.K. to reach out and ask for support, yet it is important that you maintain full responsibility for your emotions. Because what you do as a result of your emotional feelings is also your responsibility. Feelings of self pity and victimization are a downward spiral, literally and energetically. Depression, anger, righteousness and justification are common consequential feelings. Reaching outwardly to others and/or reaching within are both healthy human functions. Mutuality and sharing is enriching when reciprocated; prayer and healthy inner dialogue is acknowledgement of spirit. Accessing spirit occurs by way of soul which is one’s connection to source. Soul speaks with feelings that can only be authentic. Learning to access our own soul takes courage and practice. Soul is our deeper voice that speaks truths in the heart; mind is our intellect and is aware of the divisions of outer reality that the soul is not. Losing sight of and so access to soul due to the usurping focus of the mind is where troubles begin. When this is the case, one can be said to ‘be’ an ego. When the authentic soul self is acknowledged and accessed, one can be said to ‘have’ an ego. Striking a healthy balance is ever ideal. Action, reaction, cause and effect, karma is a principle of continuum. All actions creat ean energy wave. In this respect, life can be seen to be more economical than it is ethical. Our actions can thus be considered good investments or bad investments. Since life is ultimately one, all polarities in duality fused and united, all investments of choice and action that are aimed at acknowledging and contributing to unity and oneness are good investments that bring positive returns. All those choices and actions that are divisive might generally be considered not so good investments, producing liabilities. As the metaphor goes we can take loans and we can also save and accrue credits. Self defence and knee jerk reactions and the like enter a grey zone, perhaps not producing big debts, but no credit either. When we add the spiritual dimension to the equation, we can refer to ‘karma’, a Sanskrit word that is more appropriate than cause and effect because it implies causes and effects that transcends time and space, just as we do as spiritual beings. Cause and effect suggest consequence, karma highlights spiritual law. I hope these words and techniques prove helpful to you! Blessings!
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