Building Bridges Through Loss: Three/Aging, Vulnerability, and Activism

My lovely mouser, Prince Meadowlark, who has been with me for sixteen years, recently reminded me of aging’s toll on the four-leggeds of the world.  I’m used to thinking about the human experience of aging, ageism, and vulnerability, but his current challenges with sight and mobility remind me that animals too experience the erosion of strength and sensory acuity that leads to feelings of helplessness. Animals, however, require our expanded sensitivity to their well being and suffering.  Beyond a plaintive meow, this wonderful companion cannot describe his fears, his heartaches, his frustrations over the circumstances robbing him of agency, and so, as his designated person, it is on me to interpret his needs, to meet these as best I can, and to comfort him when his experiences prove frustrating.

Continue reading Building Bridges Through Loss: Three/Aging, Vulnerability, and Activism

My Planet, My Self

In these times of constant Earth and human trauma, it is easy to lose sight of the good that is constantly playing out around us and through us. When edging into despair, I remind myself that the news most visible in our culture involves coverage of disasters and terrifying human behaviours. We seldom see evidence of good news – the good people do that is contributing to the changes we require to reverse the harm our destructive actions have on the world.

As constant negative emphasis threatens to get me down, an EFT tapping session can lift me out of the anxiety and despair of catastrophe-focused thought and feeling. Once I begin tapping through the points, my optimistic energies rally and I am aware of the spacious experience of balanced thinking, feeling, and clarity. In this state of self regulation, I can then about steps I might take to support a return to personal and planetary balance.

EFT and Climate Tragedy

This is EFT’s great value in times of crisis.  It’s regular use supports the personal calm that is required to be our best selves in every situation. The first step to changing our despairing point of view is to admit to the feelings we are experiencing.  EFT is all about honouring the truth of our emotional reality. Some of us are deeply sensitive to seasonal change, and here in the Northern Hemisphere, the bright sun and intense heat of summer are balanced by short, cold days and dark, colder nights.  Both extremes are vital to our food system as it has evolved in this part of the world, and so finding ways to accept and even delight in our seasonal weather patterns contributes to the strength we need to participate in the climate change awareness events that build a community of well informed activists and conscientious citizens.

Naming our feelings of loss as we read of the fires in Australia, or witness TV and film stories documenting the damage we have done to our world is the place we begin. Tapping through the points as we speak of fear, rage, helplessness, and the many other emotional responses we have to our current world situation helps to regulate the nervous system and make space for the wisdom that guides us to life affirming choices and behaviours.  We might simply tap:  “I feel so frightened and helpless when I read about __________________ or watch _________________.  I feel so frightened, for myself and for the rest of the world.”

Once we have expressed our most intense feelings, we often experience the calm that supports a healthy curiosity about how we can participate in bringing about the changes that will support balance.   Tapping through the points on the truth of our feelings, whether we feel numb, on the verge of panic, or find ourselves in some middle territory,  is always our starting place.  Whatever our emotional, physical, spiritual, or intellectual preoccupation, the EFT approach is the same: we name the most intense of our concerns as we tap through the points. 

Shifts in Perspective

After several rounds of tapping on our most intense feelings, persistent imagery, and/or obsessive thoughts, we pause to pay attention to any shift that may have occurred in our perspective.  This shift is never forced; nor is it cultivated by affirmations.  I experience it as the spaciousness that supports my ability to see a larger picture.  When this shift happens, I say, “Okay.  How might I help this situation?” 

Waiting for guidance is an interesting experience.  I usually ask for it and then go about my daily business.  Sometimes I’m startled out of a completely different focus to do some research on making a personal change in my life (for example a dietary change to support sustainable and local food systems), contributing to disaster relief funds, or taking some other action that unites me with the energies that are knitting the world together, even as human and natural disasters seem to be pulling it apart.  This tension between balance and imbalance is the dance of life.

Optimism and Longevity

As I move more deeply into my energy work in the world, I find myself thinking almost daily about the value of longevity.  Each of us must ask what our time on Earth, however long or short, is for.  I personally love the opportunity to spread the joy of learning something new, of helping others heal long standing emotional wounds in order to participate more fully in meeting the greater world’s needs.  Not everyone wants what I have to offer, some because they don’t recognize their own wounds, and others because they find me “too old.”  Neither of these points of view troubles me.  Each of us must come to learning and loving and healing in our own time and in our own way.  Longevity has taught me this vital lesson, longevity supported by my daily EFT personal work.

More Information

If you would like more information on how to keep your energies balanced and your optimism shining no matter what your age and your fears for our Earth Home, please email me at jane@winterblooms.net.  In the meantime, explore local remedies to despair:  seek out walking clubs with positive environmental biases in your area; learn how to participate in protecting your water sources, your forests, and your most vulnerable non-human and human communities; feel personally called by our climate crisis, called by our shared Earth Mother, and supported by Her, to work with others to reestablish balance and harmony.  When we release our intense emotions and obsessive thoughts daily, we find we have so much more energy for the work that has come to us to do.

Until next time,

Jane

Visit www.eftinternational.org to learn more about how the use of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) supports the resolution of inner and outer conflicts, informs more loving and respectful relationships, and empowers its users to contribute to the changes we want to see in the world.

Jane is an EFT International (formerly AAMET) Accredited Master Trainer,  writer, coach, and educator specializing in neutralizing the effects of personal negative thinking as well as the cultural limitations that interfere with our ability to imagine, create, and live our best lives at every age.  To engage Jane for individual or group coaching services, EFT International  Accredited, Certified Mentoring sessions,  and EFT Level One and Two Training for your group, call her at  (802) 533-9277 or email   jane@winterblooms.net. 

Visit www.winterblooms.net to learn more about how Jane supports and inspires individuals, groups, and communities.

Please Note:  This educational website cannot replace therapy with certified psychologists, family therapists, or psychiatrists.  Before training with EFT International, Jane taught at the elementary, secondary, and college levels, in Ontario, and at the Community College of Vermont. She is an early trauma survivor who works exclusively as a learning/energy coach using the best practices of EFT as taught by EFT International.  She created this website to support the most effective use of EFT to reduce general and specific stresses and to increase the joy of daily living through self regulation, resilience, and pro-social experiences.

An Earth Day Love Letter to Earth’s Human Offspring

Please Note:  Winter Blooms is an educational website in no way meant to replace building a relationship with a trained EFT practitioner, counselor, or therapist.  To find an EFT Practitioner, visit the AAMET website, the Gary Craig website, the EFT Universe website, the Tapping Solution website, or contact Jane for EFT coaching support.

Many of us concerned about increasing extreme weather events are aware of how rapidly climate change is effecting life all over the globe.  If you would like a primmer on how human activities are causing shifts in biodiversity, please visit globalissues.org/article/172/climate-change-affects-biodiversity  or any reputable source of information on rapid climate changes caused by humans – anthropogenic climate change.  This post’s focus is not on climate change directly; rather it explores how human diversity and global diversity are mirroring each other in the patterns found in increased extreme weather events and increased human polarization and lack of civility in problem solving. Acute human polarization and lack of civility when dealing with the environmental crises mean we have fewer creative solutions to address the climate calamities that have become every day events. To find out how we can participate in positive change, read on.

Continue reading An Earth Day Love Letter to Earth’s Human Offspring

Tapping, Activism, and Climate Change

Please Note:  Winter Blooms is an educational website only and is in no way meant to replace experience with a trained EFT practitioner, counselor, or therapist.  To find an EFT Practitioner, visit the AAMET website, the EFT Universe website, the Tapping Solution website, or contact Jane at 802-533-9277 or jane@winterblooms.net for EFT coaching support.

Today, September 21, 2014, a massive march in NYC is bringing world attention to the urgent threats we face because of climate change.  Tomorrow, many of the same participants will shift to Wall Street to remind the world that a non-stop, extractive economy is killing the environment and its diverse human and non-human communities the world over.  Becoming involved in halting climate change is both inspiring and threatening. Television and film footage of fifties and sixties civil-rights sit ins offers vivid examples of the inspiration of collective action as well as the terrifying violence it can provoke.   Bearing blows, risking imprisonment, and even dying come with activism’s territory.  And yet we know with certainty that some causes are so important we muster our courage and take to the front lines.  Tapping can help us to affirm and act on our resolve to be the change we want to see in the world.

Continue reading Tapping, Activism, and Climate Change