Archive for the ‘Spirituality’ Category

Emotional evolution the easy way

Do you know these awesome moments when you finally GET something?

I had such an experience recently.

I had a very disturbing dream of giving an old man a massage (I don’t give massages when I am awake), and he complained and said he would not pay me. Also, two massage therapists told me that I had done a very bad thing.

When I woke up feeling horrible, I did something I usually do with bad dreams: I finished the story, in this case by imagining that I got a letter and a $1000 check from the old man telling me that my massage has been wonderful after all, and that he feels absolutely great. That made me happy.

Time to go back to sleep. However, at that moment it hit me: What if ALL the bad, painful experiences in our lives are such “patterns interrupt”? Every one of them, no exceptions. Every single horror story is only a nightmare because we left it unfinished, and all we have to do is to finish the story.

That is evolution…

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What to do with fear

During the journey in a physical body, everybody will encounter fear. It is a basic human experience and nobody can skip this part. Interesting “stuff” might distract us from acknowledging it for a long time, but as soon as we enter the woods, there it is. Jumping in our face, or sneaking up on us from behind – whatever does the trick.

What can we do about it?

One piece of advice we inevitably receive, especially in clever books, goes something like this: Fear is no good, so don´t feel it (end of advice).
Unfortunately this doesn´t help a bit. Even if we agree wholeheartedly with the reasons for skipping fear - and they are very, very good – it won´t keep us from experiencing such a primal emotion. As evolution’s time-honored power tool in the battle for survival, fear overrides our will anytime.

A more valuable response to this question is: face it. This works well with a real, concrete fear that can be dealt with by doing something. For example: mounting a horse again after a fall, speaking in public, or confronting a bully. We know what to do, although it might take a long time to muster the courage to act on that knowledge.
By the way, the heroes we admire so much for their courage in life-threatening situations, like rescue workers, tell us: Don’t wait until your fear is gone, because you might hang around until it is too late. Do what you have to do in spite of your fear, with your fear. Or, to take it even one step further: Use your fear as fuel for your actions.

But what about fear that cannot be defined as a single problem or challenge, the kind of fear that overwhelms us repeatedly, a life-sapping anxiety that cannot be mastered in a single, brave action? What about the fear of illness, of abandonment, of poverty, of failure, or of death?

The first option is to use EFT to get to the roots, to follow the trail backwards to the specific circumstances that frightened us to death when we were children. This is very effective, and I do it all the time on myself and with clients.

However, I came to appreciate another approach that can be used in addition to tapping:

Fear is situated in our emotional body, it resides in our low heart. It usually comes in waves, wearing us down one wave at a time. If we stay on this level, we most likely will not win. The solution is to remember: to remember that we are more than our physical and our emotional body, that we are Soul, that our essence is eternal.
As Soul we have other options than being the victim of our fears.

We can go places.

So, every time a wave of fear is trying to wash over you, go somewhere by shifting your attention to something else. It may be something quite trivial, but over time, you establish a trigger that will work quite well. For example: Every time you sense fear or anxiety creeping up, think immediately of your beloved pet, a serene landscape, an uplifting song, something like that. Do this over and over again, until the shifting becomes an automatic response.

One possibility is to shift to your heart.
Your high heart,
your true heart,
your spiritual heart.
This is the place where you no longer identify entirely with your fear because you, as Soul, can be the detached witness to the volatile emotions of your lower self. Do this over and over again until the shifting becomes an automatic response.

That is spirituality in action.

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Do you know your secret question?

Do you have a spirit guide, an angel, inner master, power animal, higher self, or whatever you call this special inner friend?

It’s mostly you who is doing the talking, the asking for advice, right? Try this: Invite your inner guide to ask you a question. That’s right: Give your inner guide the space to ask you a single question.

Believe me, the result can be stunning. It’s not about scrambling to give the right answer: Let the question stand alone and resonate through your body, heart, and mind. The answer might come to you, or not. It really is about the question.

You might tap on it or not, whatever feels right.

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Instant Messages

 

Pick any day and decide: Today I will tune in to its spiritual messages.
Be aware of everything that comes your way: What people do you meet? What are their attitudes towards you? Pay attention to what they say, especially if it is something you don´t want to hear. What actions are unfolding right in front of you? What animals show up today? Take notice of what pops up on TV, the computer, the radio; what jumps out of a book, a newspaper, or the mail. Read license plates and slogans. How is the weather? 

You get the idea.

Try to decipher the symbolic language of these messages and apply them to your life. If you are too busy to do this right when things are happening, retrace the day in your quiet time at night.

Of course, you can repeat this exercise anytime you feel like it. It´s fun!

Carna Zacharias-Miller

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