Hi everyone. I had a couple thoughts today I’d like to share. About avoiding myself. You know me, and of course I do sit down often and go inside. Yet there are also LOTS of times when I avoid it like crazy. I’ll be feeling some uncomfortable feeling and know that if I sat down and went inside, it would benefit me. In any number of ways. And yet I avoid. Basically I do the equivalent of running around with my fingers in my ears, saying “LA LA LA LA LA – I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” I keep myself busy and keep my discomfort from having a chance to rise up and tell me whatever it is that it needs to share. I know why. Actually, there are lots of reasons. And they’re not new thoughts. But here are two that showed up in a new way for me today. First: Today after I finally sat down and sidled up to myself, consciously curious about why I resist going inside sometimes, a little voice said “Because. You aren’t coming in here to be with me. You’re coming in here to make me feel different, be different. To change me, fix me and whip me into shape. You’re super serious and painful.” It’s true. I’m getting better at sitting inside myself just to feel the joy of it. To be with myself in the awareness of LIFE! To sit down with whatever is in there and celebrate together. Notice the sunset together. To sit side by side, not trying to change whatever is there, but to be with it as I am also in awe of being alive. I’d run too if I knew my life partner was in that mood again and was going to sit me down, give me a lecture, and try to make me change instead of listen to me and be with me. Second: There is a HUGE part of me that is totally scared of going inside because it thinks all the “okayness” is out there and needs focus entirely on how to get it. Going inside feels like certain disconnection from safety. It feels like it will literally be certain death. I know all the “why’s,” but it still terrifies that part of me. And that part of me is a perfect example of a part that needs love, not a scolding. It needs me to just show up and be with it in love. To sit with it, listen to anything it wants to say, and NOT TRY TO CHANGE IT, which will only freak it out more. This part of me that’s afraid of listening to the inner authority because it might mean I’ll die from not following “the rules” out there. Like I said, these aren’t new thoughts. Just more deeply felt today. And from new “aha’s” that landed differently in the body. I just wanted to name this and share it. It’s helping me get even more solid ground about truly allowing every part of me. It’s all good. It’s all God. It’s all some form of love trying to love me. In the end, that’s what all the parts are, after all. Even if some of those parts are working with really confused ideas. Thank you for reading this. And if you are, I hope you find more kindness and celebration for yourself too. That you can sit with total acceptance of whatever is showing up, rather than try to make any part of you be different. It’s all good. It’s all God. It’s all some form of love trying to love you. And everybody, I love you too, C |
How To Allow When Things Are Intense:
Resources
Here are some ideas and resources for those of you who were interested in the class I did recently called How to Allow When Things Are Intense. Several folks who couldn’t come asked me for some helpful suggestions. The following might help you be with uncomfortable emotions in a way that feels more allowing, accepting, and peaceful. Try to let any discomfort or anxiety roll through you without fighting it or thinking you shouldn’t be feeling it. Anxiety is fine, unless we feel anxious about it. 😉 I know it sounds funny, but it’s true. Just letting it all come through without thinking it needs to be different or shouldn’t be happening – that in itself helps to calm the nervous system down. Much better for our state of mind and state of body/health.
There are SO MANY things that help, and these are just a few off the top of my head. So, try these and see if any resonate with you and help you to relax:
First, the quickies:
GET OUTSIDE! Connecting with nature is scientifically proven to relax you, calm the nervous system, help you sleep better, and strengthen your immune system!
BREATHE! Sit down and breath on purpose! Breathing fully is also scientifically proven to benefit the body and all its processes, including calming the nervous system down.
LOOK UP! Physically looking up changes your posture and literally changes your perspective to a bigger one. Helps us step out of our closed loop thinking, get out of our heads and the drama of our stories, and literally opens up new neural networks to help us realize that the reality between our ears might be just a little made up (or, a LOT made up!)
LAUGH! Watch funny movies, stand up, youtube videos that help you laugh out loud!
LIGHTEN UP! Are you taking things too seriously, by any chance? Laughter helps, getting outside helps, doing things that you like and feel fun helps. Do whatever helps you not to get hooked into the drama and to live a much lighter, freer experience!
Dr. Amy Johnson’s blog:
How to ride out unpleasant emotions: https://youtu.be/W3ikxvyg6ls
Sarah Blondin’s guided meditations: https://insig.ht/RSgZlABUF7
BOOKS: There are SO many helpful books! Go with what feels good to you, and know that reading is a great way to keep yourself exposed to/gounded in/fed by the truth of wellbeing! Michael Singer wrote the Untethered Soul, which I also recommend. I think reading The Surrender Experiment first is a good way to go!
The Little Book of Big Change, Dr. Amy Johnson. Try this book. It speaks toward addictions and habits, but truly addresses habitual, repetitive thinking:
Byron Katie’s “The Work” – helps us to question the thoughts that are taking us for a ride. Helps us to see that ultimately no thought is true, so we can save ourselves a lot of trauma by not believing them. This process helps you actually get it that the thoughts aren’t true: Free worksheets, instructions, videos
Breathing to activate vagus nerve and the parasympathetic nervous system: I like this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QTJOAI0UoU&list=PL77eIgPU1X9_nysxXn0gMhOP4qXh55nl6&index=6&t=368s
My Youtube channel. I have various playlists. All of them offer some kind of upliftment or inspiration. Maybe there will be something there for you!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7AoDFgCJS3ZzhGYUd4gSIA/featured
There are SO many ways to help ourselves remember the truth, even in the face of big stress, fear and anxiety. I’d love to hear some of your favorites! Please post!
Always Love,
Christina
Hi. This one is my favorite so far. Getting more comfortable with being on video, and so I’m enjoying this even more. I’m just enjoying the play and sharing my little ditties. Hugs to you all. Really. I miss hugging as much as I’d like!
Here’s a little ditty about the simple joy, power and LOGIC of doing what feels good! Support your body and its flow by doing what feels good – and revel in what feels good just for the joy of it. What we feel equals our experience in the moment and in life. This song reminds us that we can revel in and enjoy on purpose! Loving you, Christina Brittain
I love to change the lyrics to songs so I can play with and remind myself about things that feel true to me. Things that feel good in my body and stick happily in my mind. The songs help me give my attention to things that I love to experience (rather than spend time spinning in my mind on unhelpful patterns). This one is a simple, sweet reminder that when we feel love, we radiate it inside and out. It just feels good to do that, and this song is a fun way to! I hope you enjoy!
I forget but thankfully remember over and over again that life happens from the inside out. That how we think about what’s happening in our lives determines what we experience. It determines what we experience because we’re feeling what we are thinking. And knowing that we are the ones who witness our thoughts, feelings and experiences, we have so much more freedom to relate to life differently. The same life, the same “drama” is now a whole new, alive, even beloved experience.
I know I am more than the story that happens between my ears. And the more I expand into this larger me, the more love I have for the storied me. Knowing that I am more than what I am experiencing right now, I’m somehow much more alive to the experience! Alive and free and available to unadulterated LIFE! The ability to hold my smaller identity within the vast truth of myself Has been profoundly healing for me. I feel more acceptance, happiness, freedom, calm, trust and openness. I feel my oneness and connection with All Life, and allow it to Flow through me in a way it can only through me. So I simultaneously have less of an identity and yet honor and cherish the uniqueness of being exactly the person I am. For me, this curiosity about who I am without my story opens up connection to nature, life, oneness, love, spirit and yet deep, true, authentic self. It creates such a relaxation in me. No fighting being who I am. Just a beingness of who/what I am. A bird is just a bird. It goes about its life without a story about itself. And certainly not a story about how it should be OTHER than what it is. If it tried to be a porcupine, it would get in its own way. Seemingly (because we can never really be separate), it would hold itself up out of the natural web. It would go against the Flow of things, and against its natural place and ways of being. But a bird never has a story of needing to be a porcupine, so it is relaxed. Being its bird self, it naturally, effortlessly fits into the scheme of all Life. So, me. So, you. We are all perfect, and held in the larger truth of what we be. No need for story.
And yet, how sweet the story of bird! Of me. Of you. <3
Hi everybody! This time of great change has been wild and uncertain – but filled with so many possibilities and invitations. One of the tools that I use for myself and teach in my classes is singing! For a long time, I’ve taken popular songs and changed the lyrics to them. Songs stick in our heads, and they are a great way to steep ourselves in loving messages. And in such a light hearted way. As St. Augustine said, “To sing is to pray twice.” So here is one of my many little ditties! I hope it amuses you! I’ll share more as we go!
Today is the spring equinox, the day exactly in between the winter and summer solstices. Winter solstice has the longest night, and summer solstice has the longest day. Today is the spring equinox, which is the day exactly between the solstices. It has equal amounts of darkness and light, and it’s the first day of the spring season. So today is full of the natural energies of freshness, renewal, and balance.
We ourselves are embodiments of nature. Humans have always celebrated and honored the rhythms of the earth. We feel the shift of seasons within our own psyches and bodies. We ARE life, and we feel the movement of life within us, as us. Life! Spring is the most exuberant, obvious season for the celebration of it. The green-ness grows! The buds come forth! The eggs hatch!
No matter what is going on in the world, life continues, always. Life, unstoppable LIFE, has existed long before even our planet did. It will continue in its eternal, expanding, joyful unfolding long after our beloved planet has passed. Not only does our planet have seasons, but so does the solar system, the cosmos. Nature – on scales smaller and larger than we can fathom. And we are PART OF IT! Alive with our loving, beating, precious hearts!
Life is now! Take a moment to notice the miraculousness of it! Life is now! Even in tax season. Even with the scare of an epidemic. There will always be something. And no matter what, YOUR exquisite moment of aliveness is in full bloom, right now.
I bloomin’ love you all! (literally, ever-bloomingly!)
Christina
———————–
PS – You might find it of interest: Due to whatever mysteries of nature involved, today’s spring has come earlier than it has for 124 years! The last time spring came this early was in 1896. Read about it here, if you like!
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/16/first-day-spring-starts-thursday-vernal-equinox-weather/5057610002/
This message popped into my mind this morning: Open, relax, and let your body fall into natural alignment. Let your mind fall into alignment too. Relax, and let natural wellbeing establish itself. No intervention needed for Life to do its thing. It continues turning seeds into beautiful trees, making babies from a single fertilized egg, making galaxies from dust clouds…… Wellbeing is the natural order, and it does it without my help! You, me, we are nature. Trust in the eternal flow of life that is designed to thrive, always.
I first heard this turn of phrase from my dear friend Sarah. “Am I being moved by love, or am I doing this to try and GET love?” I suppose it’s another way of saying “Choose love, not fear.” Sarah’s phrasing works better for me though. To me, it immediately brings to light the motivation behind either choice. Love, or the fear that we lack it. Fear comes from feeling that we don’t have love. That we are not okay. And that we need to DO SOMETHING NOW to get okay, be safe, be loved. “Am I being moved by love?” reminds me that Love is the intelligent power behind everything. I am reminded that Love is the very starting place, the ground of Existence. It is eternal, infinite, and there is no way to be without Its presence and wellbeing. As I go through my days and the innumerable actions within it, it helps me stay oriented to love if I check my motivations with this phrase. I thought it might help you feel calmer, safer, and to dwell more easily in the truth of love too.
Love, always, for sure,
Christina
Christina Brittain
619-838-5378