Guest blog written by Tammy Adams.
As humans we are living more stressed than ever before. While our ancestors experienced elements of fear and life threatening situations, they did not live their daily lives in this state. It was referred to as fight or flight for a reason. Perhaps a lion was nearby or an intruder from another tribe was threatening their safety. These were examples of danger where an individual needed to either run or remain and confront the intruder.
Today with our overpopulated cities, the media drawing constant attention to real or imagined dangers, conflicts in the workplace, etc. we are finding ourselves in a constant state fight or flight. This constant stress is accentuated by distractions that prevent us from being aware of the stressful state of our existence. The lack of awareness, coupled with the constant pressure, is the most life threatening condition of our time. Stress is killing us and we are not even aware that we have it!
Awareness is the first step
We are unable to change a situation if we do not know it exists. The best way to measure our stress is to be still, quiet, and be aware of our body. This can be accomplished by sitting quietly for only 15 minutes a day, beginning by concentrating on our breathing. As we go within we suddenly become aware of the constant bombardment of negative thoughts and emotions that play through our mind daily. We become aware of the physical areas where we are holding our stress. We are able, with practice, to clear our minds of limiting beliefs and fears that have been manufactured as opposed to real. During this short 15 minutes we can regain control of our mental condition and begin to regain control of our situation.
Suggestion: Choose the same spot and if possible the same time each day to be still. End your quiet time by thinking of something that you are grateful for. Gratitude is a very powerful way to bring peace and abundance back into your life. According to the Dalai Lama, if every eight year old in the world was taught meditation, we would eliminate violence from the world within one generation.
Is the fear real or imagined
With television and social media we are bombarded with images of death, life threatening situations, war, terrorism, etc. The news repeats the same stories over and over, day after day, and in some cases creates a disaster out of an isolated incident. Our minds begin focusing on situations that we have no control over, which in turn feeds our anxiety.
Suggestion: Turn off the devices that are creating your fear. Stop watching the news. Only choose to read and engage with positive, inspiring stories. When you feel stressful take a few deep breaths and return your mind to the state of calm you feel during meditation. Ask yourself if there is anything you can do about the situation. If there is something…..take action. If there is nothing to do, replace the fearful thought with something positive. This is called the Law of Substitution. Your mind is only capable of holding one thought at a time. Resume control and choose what thoughts you will accept.
Procrastination leads to worry
Once you have assessed the situation you are now in a position to either release it or take action. There is power in stepping forward, moving towards a solution. Procrastination leads to worry and worry leads to fear and fear leads to helplessness. Helplessness feeds anxiety and without action the cycle repeats itself over and over and over.
Suggestion: If there is no action to be taken, once again apply the Law of Substitution. Replace your anxious thoughts with peaceful ones. If there is action to be taken, take it. You will find that as soon as you make a physical or mental motion towards a solution that your anxiety will automatically begin to reduce.
Where do these thoughts come from
If you are like me, you will surprised to learn that most of the thoughts running through our minds are not even our own. The thoughts that are controlling our lives are referred to as associative memories. Associative memories are thoughts that we have embraced as our own, collected from family, friends, the media, school, advertisements, the government, etc. If we are unaware of the negative, limiting beliefs about ourselves or our situation they will continue to control us and most likely keep us stuck in a constant state of anxiety.
Suggestion: The Law of Substitution once again is your friend. When you have these thoughts, unless you know they are rooted in fact, simply replace them with the opposite vibration. For example, “I can’t do this job” with “I do this job with ease and grace”. It is important to know that saying this once will not solve the problem. You must say it every time you think the thought. If you are living with a conscious awareness of your thoughts and emotions you may find at the beginning that you are saying this reversal statement, along with others, over and over several times an hour. You need to remember that these thoughts could have been implanted in your mind for years and it will take a dedicated habit to reverse your thinking, which in turn will reduce your anxiety.
We live with a false sense of security
Life is not static but ever changing. Our subconscious mind works hard to keep us safe, it has to that’s its job. But our subconscious mind does not have the ability to reason. It cannot tell the difference between real or imaginary. The subconscious mind relies on the conscious mind to be the “watchman at the gate”, to filter the information received and only share what is in our best interest. The sad part is that our conscious mind never received the proper training and has been asleep “on watch” for years.
Left to its own devices the subconscious mind accepts information and experiences as fact and stores them for future reference. In an attempt to keep us safe, our subconscious mind retrieves a previous experience and applies that memory to the current situation. Our false sense of security actually lies in the fact that we are living in the past. We are never truly living in the movement, experiencing today’s experience as new, the way it should be.
Suggestion: What would happen if you reacted to a stressful situation with a simple question, “That’s an interesting point of view?” What if you shut down your thinking mind by simply stating, “I don’t know how? What would happen if you were present in this moment, experiencing this event like it was the first time? What if you could apply the Law of Dual Thought, replacing your current emotion with another? If this experience is replaced with a different thought, charged with a replacement emotion your mind has no choice but to follow your lead.
Old habits continue that no longer serve you
Many of these learned behaviours come from experiences where our mind did actually have to protect us. We may have felt or experienced a real threat at that time. There may have been a situation where we needed to remain on guard. While these behaviours kept us safe in the past they have long served their purpose. They no longer are keeping us safe, but rather are holding us back, preventing us from living our truth.
Suggestion: Releasing anxiety can mean releasing what we no longer need. Old habits need to be replaced with new habits. The old habits were formed through repetitive, consistent behaviours and new habits need to be formed the same way. Pause and take a realistic look at the protective habits you are clinging to. Has your situation changed? Does the need remain? Apply the Law of Substitution and the Law of Dual Thought. You can also apply the Law of Growth; what you focus on multiplies.
Finally there are healing modalities that can assist with keeping your anxiety in check. They are safe, natural ways of shifting consciousness and increasing relaxation.
Access Bars You have 32 bars of energy run through and around your head which have stored the electromagnetic component of all the thoughts and beliefs that you have ever had about anything. The purpose of a Bars session is to clear those points and to invite you to be open, to receive. Access Bars works with conventional and alternative medicine.
Reiki is a gentle, effective energy therapy that promotes physical and emotional well-being. Reiki channels energy to activate the natural healing process, helpful in reducing anxiety, stress, and depression, and assists with pain management. Reiki works with conventional and alternative medicine.
As humans we are living more stressed than ever before and our bodies are in a constant state of panic. While currently stress is killing us it does not have to be this way. Living our life with conscious awareness allows us to notice the stress and access tools to resume control of our lives and as a result reduce our stress.
About Tammy Adams
Tammy Adams, Certified Coach Practitioner offers support, in-person or online, Canada-wide. She is certified in The Grief Recovery Method®, Personality Dimensions™, Reiki Master, Access Bars®, and Mindfulness. To learn more about the services she offers, book a 20-minute free phone consult, or visit her service tab on her website at www.tadams.ca
Tammy contributes to the Wild About Wellness Community online where members passionate about holistic health and wellness come together to share information, educate and contribute for the purpose of learning and growing. You are invited to explore the site with a free 1 month membership. Get your 1 month free membership HERE
