October 2017 Newsletter

Hello, and an over-the-top October to you!
Welcome, or welcome back, to my newsletter. The photo of me was taken when I was helping my energy teacher with a workshop. You can see the head mic just past the right side of my mouth.

Today's issue has an article about rushing. Is it really necessary? Enjoy!

When you're in real danger, you naturally want to hurry to safety. That heightened fight-or-flight mindset developed as a survival mechanism to keep the human race alive! Yet too many of us, me included, seem to have our alarms stuck in the On position, and be rushing when it's not really necessary. Yes, there can be a sense of excitement about getting a lot done in a small amount of time, a sense of satisfaction over being what one of my productive sisters calls "a pinnacle of efficiency", as she laughs a bit at herself. And being in a driven anxious state too often can also exhaust you.

If you see yourself in the businessman on the hamster wheel racing to nowhere, or in the man hurrying and losing important papers, are there any body signals you can tune into that warn you you're in an unhealthy pattern? For me, if I'm talking, I start talking faster, and in a higher pitch. My breathing gets faster and more shallow, the breath up high in my chest instead of deep in my belly.

When I become aware of this behavior, I can consciously take actions to reverse it. I can breathe more slowly, and speak in a lower pitch. Doing this calms my body, helping me feel safe so I naturally relax. Much of what triggers this response is anything but a crisis, like one more email from someone important to me, when I'm already too busy. It's not usually necessary to drop everything else and respond right away.

The next avenue to explore is to find what led me to feel I had to rush. Is the person demanding an answer immediately (which may or may not be reasonable), or have I created this pressure all by myself? Maybe I've reverted to an old automatic pattern left over from a demanding parent or teacher, and my sense of urgency isn't about the present situation at all!

So if I do realize I'm in an old pattern, what do I do with that information? Maybe I'm triggered back to a memory of a parent or teacher who was always pushing me to go faster when I was little. This awareness alone is huge -- I am reacting to a past situation, not to the present moment! A surprising amount of my own emotional growth (and my eyesight improvement) can be boiled down to learning to be in the Now, not stuck in a memory or worrying about a possible future which may never happen. I can't deal effectively with the present if I'm in another time! If I can catch myself before I get too deep in that rushing pattern and am on automatic pilot, I now remember to ask myself "How old do I feel? Am I here in the present?".

When I first started doing this, it was startling to me how much I was not in the present! No wonder I often stepped in potholes, both literally and figuratively, and tripped myself up. If I can manage to stay in the present and remain aware, I'll naturally make better choices, not just react in a knee-jerk way. I'll often find rushing isn't needed, since I can just respond appropriately to what comes my way, at a pace that suits me and doesn't make me feel stressed. I'm coming to find I can get more done if I don't rush, and have more fun in the process! Who knew?

To read about rushing and vision, click here.

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Please send me your questions and comments
Let me know what you've wondered about concerning energy medicine or vision or dreams. I'll be glad to write a short article addressing that topic. Thank you to those who have sent me questions, or see a question you asked me in a private session written about here. You're helping many other people! Enjoy the first half of your October. I'll write again in a few weeks. Take care!