Stress is a part of human existence, based primarily on our ability (or inability) to meet our basic human needs for food, connection, prosperity, and intimacy. What is unique about this time in human history is the collective impact of the spread of this virus, which is affecting many without our conscious awareness or control. When humans experience stress, our first (and very natural) response is to try to exert control over our immediate circumstances. This is why you saw people hoard toilet paper in recent weeks – toilet paper was something we could ‘control’ from a very human and third-dimensional perspective. We can make fun of people or criticize them for doing it; but if you look at the reasons why someone hoards toilet paper you get underneath a much more significant issue: We do not have control, we never have, and for the first time ever in human history we are having to acknowledge this lack of external control on a global level.
That is the WHAT of this moment.
Now for the WHY of this moment.
Why are we as a species, as a planet, moving through this experience together at this time? We could not realistically sustain what was happening on our planet. Did you see the Brazilian rainforests burning this year? So many signs kept emerging from Gaia signaling a bigger set of challenges at play. This is a grand reset, a big old reboot of humankind and I do believe a collective will survive through this time, and find ways to emerge renewed from this experience. A generation ahead of us will inherit a healthier planet, ironically, because of this moment.
We are being called into isolation at this time in order to connect more deeply with our inner voices, our ancestors, our spirit guides. People like me have been going within for a long time, so this process is not new or uncomfortable. But for many, this is a first, a real awakening to what is actually going on in our bodies, our minds, our spirits. This slowing down is an invitation to become more present to your home, your family, your friends, your social networks. This isolation is not meant to remove our connection to each other or render it unnecessary; this isolation is meant to bring a far deeper appreciation of what it means to just see each other, hear each other’s voices. What else, what else, would have led us to bless the delivery drivers as they pass along the street, or thank our healthcare providers with such sincere passion and gratitude? For those who have long awaited a spiritual awakening on Earth, congratulations: You are living through it right now.
But of course this moment brings its own stress, which is both conscious (you are aware of it) and subconscious or unconscious (you are not aware of it, but it’s still happening). Conscious stress feels like anxiety in the body, which is uncomfortable and sometimes very scary. It can show up as heart palpitations, a lack of desire to go outside, or a hesitation to interact with others. But what does subconscious or hidden stress look like? It’s much harder to pinpoint. It can look like binge eating carbohydrates to get a natural sugar buzz, or irritability with a partner over trivial matters that would not have bothered you before. It can look like a low-grade fever or subtle signs of illness that don’t align to the virus or even a flu, but keep you on edge. It’s that nagging voice whispering “yeah but what if?” For some, it shows up as a desire to control uncontrollable events or outcomes and then a frustration with your inability to do so, leading to anger, and even rage.
Learning to make the invisible visible is a practice common in shamanism and other spiritual realms of practice. When we experience stress, either consciously or subconsciously, human beings contract. We stop. Our body systems can become paralyzed. Our digestion s l o w s down and we don’t feel comfortable after eating. Our sleep process becomes interrupted. Our adrenals carry the brunt of this burden. And energetically, those contractions manifest as energetic blockages that may not bother you today or next week, but can show up months, years, and decades from now as illness or disease. From my view, we have more than this virus to contend with. We have to be concerned as well with imprinting of fear in our central nervous systems that can be passed down generations and will require healing on a far greater level than a virus does here and now. I don’t know about you, but I don’t relish the idea of my great grandchildren having to untangle energetic knots I am tying today.
SO what can we do to avoid contracting and blocking energy?
Here is the HOW of this moment and what you can DO to experience greater conscious and subconscious ease:
- FEEL YOUR FEELINGS. Maybe you have young children like me, so you can’t just express every emotion in words or actions. But that doesn’t stop you from feeling into what is going on and sitting with it.
- Go outside, run, breathe, and scream if you need to. Cry in the shower. Keep feeling. Feeling your feelings isn’t indulging fear; it’s allowing yourself to be fully human.
- Stay grounded and make contact with nature every single day.
- Start a meditation practice and keep it simple: Light a candle and stare at the flame for 5 minutes.
- Listen to mantras. They are ancient wisdom in phrase form. Find Deva Premal and allow her voice to transport you.
- Indulge your fears in your mind but not for long. Go ahead and envision worst-case scenarios if you need to, but only for a few seconds. Then, shift your vision to the BEST possible outcome and end your thought process there.
- Stay grateful for the health and abundance you DO have right now. Fear of losing what you have prevents you from appreciating what you have.
- Talk to someone. Take an online class where the teacher is present and able to hold a container for your experiences.
- Recognize when you are stress-controlling and stop yourself.
- Bring your awareness to THIS MOMENT and stay here. Don’t live in tomorrow or yesterday.
- Make your bedroom an oasis and a gentle place to land at night. Don’t watch news or work there.
- Find ways to LAUGH which raises your base energetic vibration and keeps you light, buoyant, and easy.
- Burn sage, lavender, copal, or myrrh to create sacred space. Even if you’ve never burned anything before.
- Take an epsom salt bath every day for 15 minutes.
- RETURN TO YOUR BREATH when you feel stress.
- Remind yourself of how many challenges you have ALREADY overcome. You are so strong!
- Eat. Eating grounds the human body. But try to avoid simple carbs that will bottom you out afterward.
- Move. Walk around the block if you can.
- Pick a flower. Nature is smiling at you right now! Flowers are how nature flirts with you.
- MAKE SOMETHING. Build a mandala out of flower petals and leaves. Bake bread (it’s easy and requires what you probably already have in your kitchen).
This is just a brief list of suggestions. Try not to repress what is happening in your mind or body. Try to work with the energies, acknowledge them, but don’t live inside of them. If you can avoid contracting in fear, consciously or subconsciously, you will not only survive this period in greater health and wellness but you will avoid the future burden of eclipsed emotions that show up later as problems you won’t want to deal with then, either.
I see you and rise up with you to meet this challenge and I trust, so very deeply and on a cellular level, that all is working for our highest good. May it be so. Now and always.
Amen, A’ho, and On we go! In love, Athena
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