“Our current climate of uncertainty is a gateway into global unity consciousness”
We are living in challenging times. There is no normal any more. I hope to go back to normal, but doubt it’s possible. When I think ahead, I don’t know what to think. It’s a dangerous area to venture into as there are no pat answers.
According to Matt Kahn in an interview in Authority Magazine,
“COVID is giving humanity an opportunity to release engrained patterns of fear in the collective unconscious.” I have to include climate change, racial injustice and more.
“In a modern-day reality where the fulfillment of many human desires are just one keyboard click away, we have been ushered into a new phase of evolution, where despite what we personally want and insist must be delivered into our reality, each and every person is having to set aside attachments to outcome to serve the immediate needs of their families and communities at large.”
A therapist once suggested I play solitaire as a means of controlling my anxiety. Playing a game of solitaire focuses my mind and allows me to have control over what I am doing. It eases my nervous system and pulls me into the present. I find comfort in it.
I’ve tried other games but some are so addictive they take over my brain. I need a game that helps me focus and when I finish with it, I’m not craving for more but feel ready to engage with life again.
Focusing my mind helps me stay in the moment. Using my creativity helps me stay in the moment. Practicing gratitude helps me stay in the moment. The list can go on.
Staying in the moment is the key to managing anxiety and stress. Mindfulness means creating an intention, giving it full attention with no judgment allowed.
Mindfulness helps to control “the vibration of fear, which often shows up as FOMO or the fear of missing out” which continues the loop of fear as a contagion spreading throughout the body into everything and everyone around us. Hence the collective unconscious.
Matt Kahn goes on to say in the interview,
“Since anxiousness just needs to be heard instead of rescued, creativity remains one of our most essential tools of transformation, which is always available to all, even for those who insist they don’t have a creative bone in their body.”
He lists five steps we can take to support ourselves or others. Here are his steps along with my thoughts:
"Anxiousness just wants to be heard, not rescued.” Using a journal to express your inner thoughts is a way to be heard.
"Uncertainty inspires the inner artist.” Follow your desires to express yourself in your medium of choice.
“Self-Love is the compassionate parent anxiousness yearns for.” Listen to what you feel. Loving yourself is the key to fulfillment in everything around you.
“Generosity transforms both the giver and the receiver.” – Helping others opens our hearts to ourselves so both giving and receiving nourish our souls.
“Breathing determines the quality of your experience.” Mindful breathing keeps you connected to your body, grounded and aware. It’s so easy to shallow breathe without thinking/feeling. Breathing consciously on the inbreath and blowing slowly through an imaginary straw on the outbreath helps to stay in the moment.
Participants’ Reflections:
I heard the words about setting an intention, giving it your attention, without judgment which I translated into acceptance, and then have gratitude. I just kept repeating those words during the meditation: intention, attention, acceptance, gratitude. It felt very powerful.
What I heard was about releasing the attachment to outcome. The universal outcome is beyond any outcome I can think of. When I can let go, it all flows into me.
That is the idea of expectations vs expectancy (see June 24 blog)
It’s a little funny to say, but I appreciate having this solitude during this pandemic. It is giving me more appreciation of things and a new perspective, like Matt Kahn said. It has given me this meditation space where I am learning mindfulness and gratitude. Thank you.
That was a great reading. What I heard was that the key to releasing anxiety is to be in the moment by practicing gratitude. I get distracted, like my mother did. I do it to myself. I work at being present. But so much is going on. I am creating a space of safety for myself.
It’s like cultivated distractions. We are in the present.
I went out yesterday and locked my keys in my car. It took an hour and a half to get it resolved. During that time, waiting, I started looking at Facebook and then thought of the lessons from this meditation group. So I read the meditations instead. Last night, I felt an ocean tidal wave of fear pour over me. I am getting tested today for COVID. I practiced straw breathing to calm down.
In the reading, I heard “not a creative bone in our body.” I would think creativity would be elsewhere in the body. It was quite a full reading. I had such joy yesterday with the Easter bunny announcement. There is much to be thankful for. I wonder if I would have reacted the same if it was announced pre-covid.
I liked the line “anxiety needs to be heard but not rescued.” It really resonated with me.
I get pissed off when people try to fix me. I just want someone to listen to my anxious thoughts, and I can be that someone. We can listen to ourselves as easily as we can listen to an authority.
During the meditation, I focused on how gratitude keeps one in the present. In my childhood, I stayed cool by going to the movie theater. We didn’t care whether the movie had started already. It wasn’t about seeing the movie, it was about being in the air conditioned space. We’d watch it twice or more. A few years ago, I went with my son to the movies and it had already started. I said no problem, and we stayed and watched it again. It was a fun memory.