For the average adult, our lives are a never ending swirl of stressful triggers and challenging situations. We might get our time away through yoga, meditation, out in nature, etc… but then we come back to our daily life full of challenges. What our modern society accepts as a standard amount of stress is usually well over the amount of stress our body was meant to handle on a daily basis. These levels of stress often lead to damage in the physical, emotional, and mental well being of the individual. We don’t all have the opportunity or option to change our busy lifestyle, which brings about a need to begin to gain deeper understanding or ourselves and our reaction to stress. We must learn how to work with stressful situations in our internal world. Once we start to master these techniques, that which is stressful becomes a magical possibility!
To begin, we must shift our perception around events that seem to “happen” to us. Each day we experience a variety of events (even if that event is just nothingness). These events are neutral in themselves. They are the result of countless energies coming together to form what is in the moment. The important part here is how you choose to take the event into yourself. You can decide “this is bad” or “this is good.” Ultimately, it is you (your brain) that makes this decision based on previous experiences. If you decide it is “bad” you automatically go into a stressful mode and release chemicals to match that mode, as well as shift your energy to match that decision. So here we must move into a state of acceptance of our experiences and engage the situation from a more neutral place. Not a settling, rather an acceptance of the current situation that is before us. From a state of acceptance, we can more clearly and gracefully begin to enjoy and/or change the situation to something even better. Accept what arises as a possibility rather than trying to deny it. This way of thinking is a practice skilled, one that takes time and effort to develop.
The other important part here is to watch our energy. When something that we accept as stressful or bad happens, our energy shoots up. You literally pull your energy/spirit out of your body in levels of fear. Usually, there is a deep level of fear here related to not being good enough in some way. Instead, we must learn to be grounded and strong in our body. When we anchor our presence into the body and the Earth, we can powerfully face the situation at hand. This is an ongoing process to deepen over time, however, you can begin by imagining your energy and body plugging into the Earth. Just like you plug a large electrical device in with a grounded outlet. Feel every part of yourself dropping down into the Earth. Practice this when you are not faced with a stressful situation, then be ready to practice as “challenging” situations arise. As you continue to practice, you will more quickly be able to drop down into the Earth when encountering something “bad,” calming your energy and facing the situation at hand with more clarity.
You will find that as you continue to shift how you perceive experiences and monitor your energy, you will find that which was previously a challenging or stressful situation, is actually an opening to new possibilities and pathways to empower you and bring more magic into your life. From this place, “challenges” and “bad experiences” can be transmuted to take you to new places in your life. Be grateful and be grounded in each experience!
