Stress, Spirituality and the Shift

How are you doing? Enquired my housemate, genuinely concerned. I am preparing for a long trip overseas and there is much to be done on a practical level.

I'm ok, really ok My words came as a complete surprise to me! As my thoughts aired through speech I hardly recognised myself: I felt calm, peaceful and relaxed.

How could this be? I had so much to do! I had not managed to keep up with my to do list, I had experienced a couple of setbacks earlier in the day.

I had every reason to feel stressed, emotional, anxious and overwhelmed. And yet.... I felt good! This was new and unfamiliar.

I'm no stranger to stress: stress has permeated and coloured most of my life. I witnessed my parents overworking and projecting their frustrations onto myself and my siblings, which we duly internalised. I then created lots and lots of stress for myself as a young adult. Firstly through setting and achieving seemingly unfeasible academic goals. And then spending  years collecting promotions and taking on increasing levels of responsibility in inner London education. I eventually burnt out, retraining in holistic arts: yoga and bodywork.

Yet the stress followed me into my new life; unseen and silent, I let stress continue to devour me and drain my energy on all levels.

Stress is the plague of the modern world, who doesn't suffer from stress? Sadly, stress is the norm and accompanies much of our daily experience.

I have come to know stress pretty intimately. My definition would be a set of physiological and emotional responses to challenging conditions. 

Typically, there is a feeling of overwhelm, of circumstances being out of control, of lacking the time or resources to meet the situation. Being unable to cope. Caught in a stress reaction, we fixate and magnify the situation out of all proportion and risk spiralling into a vortex of negativity.

In my work I have become skilled at relaxing the physical body, it is useful but not enough. On my journey of healing I have come to see that holistic therapies and bodywork can only take me so far; right now the work is taking place on the inner level.

Stress is a choice, a reactive pattern, we have repeated time and time again that we assume it is a fixed response. We don't realise we are choosing it:  we feel as though it is choosing us. Because it is a choice, we have it in our power to change our response and transform our relationship to the situation.

My practise is is to avoid tipping over into the stress reaction and inhabiting the stress zone which wreaks havoc on the body, emotions and causes a detachment from spirit, a separation from the inner being,  a shut down. This is quite simply too high a price to pay.  And I no longer consider stress to be inevitable, I challenge its hold over me and my life force.

I am suggesting that the antidote to stress is TRUST. An inner knowing that circumstances will regulate themselves, that we can cope and all will be well, even though we don't in the present moment know how. The universe, divinity or one's own higher self will ensure a positive outcome.

Todays example: I had ordered a pair of walking shoes online, they were a real bargain and alas when arrived they didn't fit. I started to tell a negative story,  They don't fit, this is terrible! I can't afford an expensive pair, I don't have left enough time to get a replacement sent out, it's my fault and so on. I started to embroider in everything else I had to do, there simply wasn't enough time!  I could feel myself on the verge of panick and anxiety.

I caught myself, detached from the reaction and told myself a different story: It was going to be so easy to organise a refund, I was dealing with a retailer who always gave superlative customer service. I would find another pair of walking shoes, I didn't yet know how, but I knew that the Universe would bring me a solution.

Peace dawned on me: I knew that everything was going to be ok. Letting go of stress is a huge deal. When I am able to do this, I feel lighter, freer, calm and relaxed. The real me!

I am learning to let go of the paradigm of the supremacy of the rational mind, whereby we expect to solve all our problems by thinking and planning, skills which only work some of the time and leave us mentally and emotionally exhausted and ultimately unsatisfied.

I choose to let go of  struggle

In expanded consciousness, we live an integrated spirituality,  broadening one's understanding to include a benevolent cosmic force that is always on our side and operating to produce the highest good for all.

Which means that the poor, long overburdened thinking mind no longer has to bear the full weight of responsibility for our decisions and choices in life. Everybody wins!

This is the shift in awareness that humanity is currently being asked to make: Do we choose a fear based reality (stress) or love based reality (trust)? The loneliness of the illusion of separateness or the joy of co-creation?

Which do you prefer?

Blessings of calmness and clarity

Jennifer