Lately my girlfriends and I have been talking a lot about MIND-BODY CONNECTION as it pertains COVID-19 & the resulting Quarantine. These are conditions that none of us have been subject to before and while everyone is affected by it differently, one thing is the same, WE ALL MUST ADAPT.
The spectrum of mindsets I’ve been observing run the gamut from grateful, content, and blissful to anxious, concerned and fearful. One could argue that’s easier to adapt if you have XYZ but the old adage of “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.” was never more suited than to a situation like this.
We are all being tested and since the playing field has been leveled, what better time than now to get in touch with how we feel and how to benefit from that connection.
Always one for “conducting an experiment” or trying on new behaviors during a trial period, I see this as fertile training ground for developing improved self-awareness…tools that we can use for the rest of our lives. The key to healthy self-awareness is simply observing how you feel in any given moment. That’s where the Mind-Body Connection comes in.
The body produces different sensations such as butterflies (anticipation), tightening of the chest and throat (anxiety), heart palpitations (fear, anxiety, excitement), changes in body temperature, which are indicators of what’s going on mentally just as our emotions (happy, indifferent, sad, nervous, excited etc.) are guides as to how we should proceed in any given circumstance.
The emotions and resulting physiological reactions we experience are an IN-HOUSE MECHANISM we have to protect us from harm and help us create more of what feels good. That’s not to be undermined. It’s a beautiful gift of a COMPASS that when used will undoubtedly create a healthier mental landscape and a better quality of life.
One way it’s been showing for me and other single girlfriends I have that don’t have children is the feeling of loneliness due to isolation. I know that seems like a dream to some of you who would give anything at this point to have some quiet time to yourself without someone wanting something from you but again…Grass, greener. To be homebound and alone most hours, day in, day out, is a different kind of stress.
It manifests in lack of motivation, sluggishness, disorientation, increased self-isolation and can turn into prolonged depression if the emotions are allowed to fester. So for example, to course correct I could count my blessings (Rule #1), go for a walk or drive, Face-Time a friend, meditate, get my emotions out by journaling, learn something new, start a project, or plan something to look forward to. In other words, SHIFT MY FOCUS AND RAISE MY VIBRATION.
Other ways you can benefit by Mind-Body Connection is observing your body’s reaction during and after any activity. For instance, just in the category of food alone you can observe how you feel after eating certain foods…Do they give you energy or leave you drained? Make you feel congested? Give you indigestion? You get the idea. Everyone’s body is different and while there are so many approaches to good health and weightloss, I believe that all you need to do is PAY ATTENTION to your body’s reaction and do more of what feels good and less of what causes dis-ease. Since I took this approach, my weight stabilized once and for all and I stopped yo-yo dieting.
Same thing with working out. Once I took the emphasis off of working out to lose weight and paid full attention to how certain activities made me feel strong, energetic, empowered, confident, mobile, flexible, fluid, sensual, and vital INSIDE & OUT, then nothing and no one could stop me from moving to feel good!
In relationships you may feel “energized” or “drained” by certain individuals and in business they say “Trust your gut.” Figures of speech we’ve been repeating our entire lives are actually words of wisdom trying to guide us.
Now we’ve talked about Mind-Body Connection but there’s still one more piece of the puzzle to complete the triangle to FULL CONSCIOUS AWARENESS and that’s the SPIRIT. Enter meditation.
I admit I am new to the mystery and science of meditation. While I have had many “failed attempts” over the years because I couldn’t quiet my mind long enough to establish a “connection,” once I finally did and recognized how comforted, supported, guided, invigorated and inspired I felt afterwards, I was able to recreate the process and grow from there.
If you are reading this and are frustrated that you keep hearing about meditation but you don’t understand what the big deal is, I completely understand! This is why I want to share this information. I have been in your shoes forever but now that I am beginning to discover the existence and benefits of communicating with this hidden world that’s out there but actually within you, I feel it’s my duty. I know it sounds trippy but stay with me…
So there are many different types of meditation and reasons for doing it. I don’t profess to be an expert and I’m not going to even Google the subject because I AM speaking from my own experience. I became curious about it as a coping mechanism for anxiety. I would always hear about “focus on your breathing” as an exercise in focus, silencing the noise in your head, and giving your body a much-needed break. At first I started off with sitting still and trying to quiet my mind while breathing deeply but I was “trying too hard to SUCCEED at meditating.”
Then I got into the habit of casually stopping what I was doing when I felt anxiety creeping in and taking deep breaths until it passed. Success with that demonstrated to me that there was something there. Next I started reading about connecting with a higher source, The Divine AKA God, during meditation and that intrigued me so I formally prepared a Sacred Ceremony by burning candles, incense, and Palo Santo sticks to clear the energy, laid out my exercise mat to lay down with crystals to raise my vibration (what works best for me), and focused on igniting my chakras and connecting to the higher powers.
It took me a few attempts but eventually I would feel moments of connection with what felt like waves of euphoric warm tingles rushing through my body like electricity along with an unrivaled peace mixed with empowerment and enlightenment through seemingly random clear and very smart thoughts. A detailed description of my meditation process is featured in my blog HOW I SHED LBS & GAINED ENLIGHTENMENT BY CONFRONTING MY FINANCES.
I have since identified that what I accomplish within time meditating is worth hours, months, years worth of sweat equity maintaining what I’ve created up to that point. The reason being is that during my time laying still and “just being,” the ideas and WISDOM that flows is grander than anything that occurs to me while I AM BUSY living my life and no amount of “staying busy” will lead me there. The clutter of the mind and the noise it creates drowns out the brilliant ideas and the guidance we seek.
BECAUSE I WAS OPEN, I accelerated very quickly in my learning to go deep into my mind and into other dimensions where wisdom lives. To demonstrate the types of thoughts that come to me while I am in this state of mind, I have chosen to share with you an excerpt of the notes I took during my last meditation. They are an unedited stream of consciousness that I refer to afterwards to ponder and guide my next steps:
To fulfill your purpose here on Earth, you are given a book of assignments. Cases.
Everyone has their own Divine Book.
I’m currently on ******** Detail.
“You don’t just get to protect the President. You graduate.” **Evy Poumpouras
We are all worker bees. Even angels. Everyone has a function. A detail. We are the Hands of The Creator…like the brushes to a Makeup Artist. To be obedient to that function is to be in communion with The Creator. To be in the flow. You feel it like a surfer riding a wave. It’s an energy. A current. A momentum. It pulls you until you get distracted. You must maintain focus in order to keep the momentum going. When you do, you “graduate” to the next level.
The Fountain of Youth isn’t a fountain at all. It’s not water. It’s fire. Ignited by passion, connection (Mind-Body-Spirit to The Divine and all of Creation) and purpose. The water is actually light.
The Fountain of Youth is actually a Vessel of Light. We are the vessel. The light within us is the Divine Holy Spirit. When we tap into it, we get younger from the inside out and “radiate” or “glow” peace, love, & joy. Happiness is different from joy. It is possible to get younger as you get older.
How do you maintain the connection? By being still. Reserve time. Exercise stillness. It’s a muscle.
So you can get younger by being still? Yes! The instruction will come to you then. You don’t have to know anything more. .
In mediation you don’t have to do anything but observe and listen.
As you can see the wisdom I “downloaded” during this session was elevated above what I normally encounter during my daily routine of living. The concepts here are bigger though sometimes I just decompress and air out fear, negativity, and anxiety. Sometimes I get answers to simple questions I’ve been asking or inspiration for projects. Other times I fill up on gratitude and send light and love to whomever enters my mind.
You get what you need in the moment and I must admit that I tell myself to “be quiet” and “let go” every time because the chatter creeps in but each time it becomes easier to switch gears and “connect.” While I have a meditation template I’ve created for myself, I by no means try to control the process. The point is to JUST BE and receive what comes to you.
To bring the MIND-BODY-SPIRIT CONNECTION full circle, when we are PRESENT & ALIGNED, we feel joyful, ignited, supported, AT EASE, inspired, alive, full, DIVINE. This is how we are supposed to feel and when we cut the noise, listen to our bodies, and connect more often, we inch closer to fulfilling our PURPOSE and living a QUALITY OF LIFE that is our birthright.
Light & Love,
Dawn Bliss