It’s a way of life – seeing, smelling, feeling every place so that you can evoke the full experience at will and project it onto a blank space of the stage to tell a story. At least it is when you are an actor.
What if you are not an actor but you want to live a different story, one of calm, one of confidence, one of peace? You will not create it in the middle of a panic attack, in the height of a pressure filled moment, or in the midst of threatening agents. Berating yourself for not being able to calm down when you are feeling anxious only adds to your anxiety.
Physical training has become the key for me to subvert anxiety. I will always think ‘too much’. It is one of my greatest allies and greatest enemies. I will never stop being extremely sensitive. Again, I wouldn’t give up that gift even if it meant peace. With training, however, I have learned to trigger calming responses to stress, to breathe through the narrowed spaces of tension, and to ground myself in the heightened moments that would otherwise take my feet out from under me. I have learned to be strong despite myself.
Are you ready to stage the most important coup of your life?
Here’s a few ground rules:
- Be You. Don’t change for goodness sake!! You are exactly who you are supposed to be. Understanding who you are and accepting yourself will bring the peace necessary for growth. This is the rich soil in which we plant the seeds.
- Allow. This isn’t “Hard Work”. There is no sweat. Allowing is to release. Allowing is to accept. Allowing is to be guided by intuition and instinct into where your body is strongest.
- Embrace it all. For heaven’s sake you are not a bloody onion. You do not wear masks. These ‘faces’, these ‘layers’, they are all you. Own everything. These varietals of you are evidence of your capacity to adapt. This is part of your humanity. We are seeking only to strengthen your relationship with the aspects of you that support you when you need it most.
On to Visualization!
First let’s briefly understand the concept of creative visualization.
Creative Visualization is the technique
of using your imagination
to create what you want in your life.
– Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization
Gawain continues to explain that what seems solid and separate is, on the finest levels, pure energy. Thoughts, it follows, are also energy. Energy is magnetic, so energy of a certain kind attracts similar energy. Also, all manifestations, whether intentional or not, begin with thoughts and ideas. Finally, by adopting the law of radiation and attraction, CV expects that whatever energy you put outward will be reflected back to you.
So think good thoughts and good things will come. Your brain is a garden, pick out the weeds that choke out the healthy thoughts.
But what if thinking healthy thoughts of peace and calm isn’t your strength?
To begin this journey of thinking in a healthy way that will support you in the times when you feel the greatest stress and anxiety, let us simplify CV and begin with what we do see around us that inspires peace.
This is an exercise I can in no way take credit for. In fact I tried to find out who to credit and I couldn’t find the end to that rabbit hole. So let’s just say that thank you to the universe for this one…
This exercise is prescribed usually in times of great stress such as panic attacks. Grounding oneself in the moment helps divert the thoughts from the experience of panic that has taken over the brain. It gets you out of your head and into your body.
Instead of waiting for the panic or stress, I am asking you to prepare for the difficult moments before hand. After all, remaining sensory aware can be difficult in emotional moments.
This is why we practice.
Here’s the plan:
- Practice this grounding technique in the moment. The next time you find yourself in a space you feel authentically relaxed, grounded, and/or connected to your strongest sense of self. Witness the world that inspires peace in you.
- Recreate this world. In a neutral place or time, remember and relive the points as accurately as possible.
- Recreate this world as you go through a routine of Progressive Relaxation. This will further connect the physical sensation grounding with the release of tension.
- Finally, in times of stress and anxiety, recreate this world. Remember what you see, what you hear, what you touch, what you smell, and what you are thankful for. Feel the memories in your body.
And practice, practice, practice! At the beach, with your cup of tea curled up on the couch, sitting in the sun, driving with the window open on a sunny day, sipping your first brewed cup of coffee on a quiet rainy Sunday morning, whenever and wherever you feel strong, safe, and content.
And don’t forget to be thankful. It’s so good for you.
And just in case you need a little more to inspire you…