Inner Peace in the Time of COVID-19: Self Care Post 2

As we move into the next few months, practicing self care may become more challenging. As the human nervous system responds to real and imagined threats, we become more hypervigilant because our Sympathetic Nervous System is activated, compelling us to fight, escape, and even go numb or dissociate. First responders, medical personnel, agency employees serving high-risk populations, and traumatized children and adults are often so highly vigilant that personal and professional crisis-management reactivity becomes a way of life. Whatever our personal circumstances and professional commitments, when we are constantly expecting the worst, we run the risk of serious health challenges.

Helpful in returning our Sympathetic Nervous System to a state of calm is the simple act of bringing the hands to the head and gently and steadily allowing them to travel to the heart. If we are in a place where self-touch is restricted, especially of the facial area, we can place our hands a few inches out from the head, then follow the same slow, steady path to the heart. When at the heart, allow the hands to rest, one over the other on the chest, and open, like butterfly wings, at heart level. Breathing deeply, we can begin our meditation on trust – in the self, in others, and in our ability to work together as we open to the guidance that will help our families, our communities, and indeed, the entire world, to find peace amid the chaos of uncertainty.

I meditate in this way because I have learned that we are all connected through invisible energy fields. Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home, has studied these fields in depth, calling them Morphogenetic Fields, now commonly known as Morphic Fields. He uses this term because his research has proven that the energetic fields around us organize and generate our physical lives.

Indra’s Web

When I first heard the term morphic field, I immediately thought of Indra’s Web, a mythological concept describing how the entire universe is woven together through invisible interconnections. Evidence for the existence of our invisible interconnections is found in the concept of entanglement in quantum physics, what Einstein referred to as “Spooky Action at a Distance.” Spiritual leaders point to this scientific evidence of entanglement as an explanation for answered prayers.

Our invisible interconnections are especially comforting during these times of social distancing. Drawing the energy from our worst-case-scenario thoughts to our steady, reliable hearts as we meditate on trust allows each one of us to contribute to peace and calm at a time when we need it most.

May we all send out kindness and trust each day.

Love, Jane

Lessening Resistance to Meditation

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 at 802-533-9277 or jane@winterblooms.net for EFT coaching support.

The benefits of meditating – lower resting heart rate, reduced high blood pressure, increased longevity, increased creativity, reduced stress/increased inner peace, and even reduced sensations of physical pain to name a few – have established meditation as the heart and soul of the wellness movement.  Doctors of every stripe recommend meditation to patients, psychotherapists encourage clients in its daily practice, and educators bring meditation in one form or another into the classroom to promote optimum learning environments within the minds of individual children and the group.  Meditation’s proven benefits prompt us to ask why, when it is so beneficial to us intellectually, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, we do not meditate on a daily basis.  The answer lies in a single phrase:  Resistance to Stillness.

Continue reading Lessening Resistance to Meditation

EFT and Perspective

In the midst of a personal or professional challenge, it is easy to lose perspective, especially when our emotions take us to a place of fear, worry, and anger.  In anticipation of life’s challenges, many of us who choose to create a culture of peace practice Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or Meditation to reduce stress and support an optimistic and helpful outlook on life despite the strife that may be playing out all around us. Daily practices such as Meditation and EFT help to keep our energies balanced and our minds clear, thus promoting a calm view of life that contributes to positive outcomes despite inevitable challenges and conflicts.

Continue reading EFT and Perspective

New Year New Habits – Part Four: Maturity

The process of aging well offers us one of life’s most satisfying rewards: maturity.  Mature trees provide shelter to birds and small animals, breathe for our planet, and weather storms.  In some Native American traditions, trees and plants are called Standing Silent Nation.  Clarissa Pinkola Estes compares us to mature trees when she applauds people for “still standing” after experiencing traumatic events.  Habits that support our intentions to do well by ourselves and others expand our maturity.  As a negative habit transforms into a positive one, we are able to turn our gaze inward regardless of what might be going on in the world.  This inward gaze signals our capacity for reflection, a sure sign of maturity.  Developing this capacity, we discover and strengthen our inner balancing point, our inner core.

Continue reading New Year New Habits – Part Four: Maturity

The Ache of Cultural and Global Transformation

Each of us alive on the planet today is experiencing change brought on by events over which we have little or no control.  One ongoing event we all share, we call climate change.  At a recent gathering called to strengthen and nourish a diverse community of elders in these parts, participants spoke of the perilous state of bees everywhere and of the diminishing populations of bats in the northeastern states.  Fewer butterflies, bees, and bats, interrupted growing seasons, and extreme weather in the form of drought or deluge here and elsewhere signal that our world is changing and that we must respond intelligently to these changes rather than react out of fear.

Continue reading The Ache of Cultural and Global Transformation

The Joy of Daily Balance: The Four-Leaf Clover Meditation

Although we are spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual beings, our lives often demand that we focus on one of these areas to the detriment of others.  For example, work may require hours of intellectual energy in front of a computer, challenging situations with family and friends may overburden our emotional circuits, a variety of situations may require prolonged physical energy expenditures, and all of our material-world demands may conspire to make us feel without spiritual support.  It is easy to fall into the habit of depression or anxiety when we meet one of these basic needs at the expense of others.

Continue reading The Joy of Daily Balance: The Four-Leaf Clover Meditation