When it’s Time to Stop and Release
We all have a vision.
Those of us reading these words right now are in touch with or at the very least aware of a need inside of themselves to grow spiritually, to connect with their higher self and live in God, our Higher Selves, the Vortex, Brahma -whatever you personally wish to call it. Through our practices and prayer we are learning to intuit our next step on our paths, translating our experience, feelings and thought in order to expand our awareness and our soul purpose.
Every thought feeling and event is here to teach support and guide us. From an early age we have learned to label these as good or bad, happy or sad so on and so forth. Where we can have a little difficulty translating and evolving is during those times when it can feel as though what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve is at odds with our external and internal environment. The bad and the sad. What we need to realise is that what we have done is place our happiness and power on external conditions. I am happy WHEN. We have managed to strip ourselves of the power of feeling good by pegging it to events outside of our control. Spirituality and depression can go hand in hand.
When we feel we are kicked out of our flow it can be incredibly hard to get back into it again- like swimming against the tide. Frustrated when we are not able to be ourselves it is as though we have a grey cloud over our heads or the air just feels too damn bloody heavy. It is easy to be overcome with feelings such as anxiety, indecision, lethargy, irritability and even illness. If we let it, this can also lead to a crisis in faith. We see ourselves performing the same actions we wish to no longer be a part of our lives and get frustrated. We can see our spiritual search as a chore. A once exciting decision fills us with sadness and pressure, our energy can be low and janky as if we are letting ourselves and the divine down, if you are susceptible to energy shifts leaving you drained and depleted this too can take a toll and be felt even more than would be normally as can the energy of people around you.
Don’t give up though.
Don’t give up because this is actually some of the most powerful and progressive learning we can work through. The fact that you are admitting this situation an airing and not denying the difficulty you are having is proof that you are growing. You are living your truth by looking at it and attempting to find a resolution to it so Let’s take a look at some healthy anger release and work through the
What we want to say is that you should be congratulating yourself right now. You have developed your self awareness and internal spiritual compass to the point that you are so aware of your space and energy and whether life is working in your favour, the way you want it to, that you are able to tell yourself very loudly and very clearly that something is not quite right! That something is in need of a little tweak in order to get you pointing due North again.
A state of receivership
This is one in which you are allowing a connection and allowing progress on your path. You may well be screaming at us right now ‘But I am in a state of receivership! Look, I’m meditating and everything, doing my affirmations reading my books, wishing, praying and being a really good person’. Mmmmh, not so much if you are feeling as though every move and breathe is conspiring against you. Not so much.
During my time working with an integrative practice of personal spirituality, NLP and trauma aware mindfulness I have learned that when we are totally out of synch a lot of us work even harder and go even faster in an effort to over compensate- this will not work. In a lot of cases it will compound the situation. We here would like to offer up an alternative gentler approach to getting you back up and at ’em.
Stop everything. Give yourself permission to be still. This is not the time for action it is a time for inaction and gentle reflection. In stillness you are giving yourself permission to become receptive, physically at peace and self nurture. You will then be able to look at your current situation with non judgmental non harassed eyes, shed what no longer serves you and equally you will become increasingly aware of what does bring you peace and joy and reconnect. By burying feelings which make us feel sad and anguished we are not helping our selves at all. These feelings are a learning curve, a chance for us to acknowledge areas where we need to get truly intimate with ourselves and hold space.
The act of stillness is one in which we could devote a whole post to but for now suffice to say it is the human condition translation of pressing pause. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is by reconnecting with our senses and for when you need to be still in a pinch and bring yourself back to the present concentrate on what at that moment you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste. By doing this you are making yourself be present and not allowing your mind to wander back to the thoughts that have been preoccupying and disturbing you. Focusing upon your breathing is also excellent at this time and you may well notice that you are not breathing out for half as long as you are breathing in. If this is the case, you are being shown that you are not releasing as much as you are taking in. Its time to start letting go a wee bit. Important to note here that breathe focus is not the only route to stillness and for many it can be a triggering episode. There are many cues you can use such as staring out at a window, a spot on the floor, the backs of your eyelids etc experiment and see what works best for YOU.
What we are needing is a two step process, release/surrender followed by receiving and gratitude. It kind of has to be performed in this order as a cathartic purge and cleanse will put you back in to neutral before progressing back and further into a state of happiness and co creation. The first part of this process will be discussed here today and later on in the week we will look more in depth at how we can then move on to receivership and gratitude.
Release/Surrender:
Below you will find a few suggestions, try them all or just one if you like, depending upon your situation. The aim is to vent and air your grievance in a safe space. You are safe remember and you need to give yourself permission to release the pent up negativity inside of yourself.
-Visualisation. It is a sad fact that we will never receive the apologies we feel we should and need in order to move out of a situation. We all by now know the adage of holding a grudge being akin to drinking poison and expecting the object of our frustrations to suffer from this act. It is an adage for a reason- it is true. Resentment is toxic and the act of forgiveness is one in which we benefit ourselves. Visualising yourself actively forgiving somebody will begin the release process and help you move on. You may well need to do this repeatedly and that is fine. You may also need to forgive yourself. Time and again we do something and think why did I do that- AGAIN. Awareness of our mistakes is awareness itself so don?t be hard on yourself as you are able now to discern what is right for you and what is not. See your mistake as proving the exception to the rule and probing your new role. This path isn’t linear. I don’t think any life course is. What you may well find is that we come round to the same points over again each time with a fresh understanding and deeper insight.
-Bed punching. Yes bed punching. Nobody on this planet should be carrying around anger fear hurt or resentment. Not only will it cloud your vision, stunt your growth and make you miserable but in time it will also make you physically ill. Manually releasing the pent up tension into an inanimate object will teach your body to let go of these feelings and transmute them as energy back into the universe. For many this act may be in contrition to anything they have been taught about physical obedience and good behaviour. Trust me you are only doing the right thing by releasing an energy or vibration which is causing you harm. You do not need to carry this around with you. Great anger release therapy!
Journaling and burning. Some of us (read: Bellatrix) find it best to simply write down the way we feel and why. We can sometimes be more expressive when writing and find that we think through a situation a lot more. I would suggest writing everything down and again, no shame here. It really is not in your best interest to hold back as you are keeping in everything you want to let out. Write until it exhausts you if you need to. Once you are done burn it. Let it go and as with the other two processes allow that energy to be transmuted and sent back up to the universe.
Meditation. When we are overcome with negativity it is very very hard to be still and present with ourselves. This is however the only way as distractions will never take away the cause but will divert you from rectifying it. Sitting very still in a semi lotus position, hands resting gently on your knees, take deep breathes into your stomach. As you imagine your feet and sacral area growing roots down into mother Earth so too imagine the energy layers around you opening up like a lotus flower. Set the intention of only interacting with energy for your highest good and allow your energetic petals to gently blow in the breeze. Now imagine releasing the pent up energy. There may be some areas which are hard to open up, the throat and heart could prove difficult. If this is the case be gentle and loving to yourself, coax out those difficult emotions and feel them to release them.
In Conclusion
As should be apparent here, the aim of the game is to get you to release any pent up negativity you are keeping stored and allow its transmutation. This can only be done once you are standing still and giving your situation the full attention it deserves, and when we say release we truly mean release. When letting go of energy and thoughts which do not serve you well restraint is not order of the day. If you keep your emotions in you will be keeping that energy in/blocked. You really will get out of this process what you put in to it so please give it your all, don’t be so attached to the energy around you which is depleting and to your detriment. This is a phase and this too shall pass- on the proviso that you allow it and are ready to grow some more.
