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As we fall further into fall...
And it actually feels like fall now, we gardeners are catching up after a long hot dry summer and smoky start to October. The ground is getting softer and the plants are beginning to get the message that it is time to end their life cycle or withdraw their nutrients to store for next years growth.
You know I like my gardening metaphors...
We follow the same mandates as the rest of Nature. We have our cycles: of growth, decay and withdrawal And being the complex creatures we are, we are doing them in some way, all at the same time.
As we move from childhood to young adult hood we are in a massive growth and change state. But at the same time childish things are falling away. But, hopefully, some of our 'childlike' nature remains, our wonder and awe, our thirst for learning and flexibility.
I won't go through all the stages of life here - you get what I'm talking about. As we move through stages of growth some parts fall away (or should!) and some parts are integrated, and new parts of ourselves become more prominent.
Every year, some people mourn the passing of summer, while others celebrate the passing of summer. A very few embrace both. I've always been a fall person, but I've been actively engaging my wonder and enthusiasm, to embrace summer as well. After all, it's the season that promotes and prepares my beloved Dahlias and Chrysanthemums for their spectacular flowers!
On the emotional level we turn from our pain, ignore it, try to stuff it down so we are not affected by it. In some sense we hope it will compost where we can't see and feel  it. But, that doesn't happen. It stays in the body, as if in the present moment it was stored, vibrating as if it is happening NOW. This makes it come out in other ways that we can't ignore. The emotional pain we can't face expresses as illness, recurring troubling thoughts, even behaviors. This can look so random that we don't associate it with "buried' stress. And the complexity of our brain allows for situations that reflect our 'negative' thoughts to be more prominently presented to us "from the outside" world, while more positive options are filtered out so we literally can't see anything other than bad options.
There's two ways to look at this conundrum. Our brain hates us, or is serving our growth and health, our continued existence, in the best way that it knows how.
Remember, our brain works the way it does to make sure we stay alive. It's not actually concerned with our happiness.
That's our job.
Psychology has some pretty brutal roots...
But, we've come a long way, baby. EFT is very gentle. In tapping we work at the lowest level of emotional intensity as we can. Because the pain and stress were stored in the body in the first place because your resources to deal with the situation were overwhelmed. So, as we tap there is overwhelm coming out of the body, yes, but the addition of the tapping and a guide or friend, creates new levels of resources and safety to deal with that overwhelm safely.
And the two year old you was easily overwhelmed...
So often people go years suffering from some emotional anxiety, only to find that now, as an adult, the overwhelming stress comes from an event from childhood that is now easily released! Your 7 year old self was floored, but you at 35 can look at that situation and brush it off. And once you have that 'cognitive shift', that old stress, that old pattern is gone for good.
Even if you do have big traumas in your childhood, EFT can help you recover resources, i.e., your ability to deal with stress through various means and ways, of which tapping itself is one.
Goliath and David...
Re-imagine the story of David and Goliath. And instead of one stone, David had a whole pile of stones. And even if the first stone didn't kill Goliath, it made him a bit smaller and David a bit larger. This is the magic of an EFT practice. As you tap, you get stronger, more resilient and "here." You get bigger and the scary emotions come into perspective.
The world is scary right now...
All your stored stress and fear, negative beliefs and programming can be causing it to feel even more overwhelming.
Let's get you resourced up! I have so many options for you!
- one-on-one tapping and coaching
- a monthly subscription with tapping and coaching emails
- my 'Habits of Happiness' course
- the 'Body Census' meditation for dealing with physical discomforts
How can I help?
I've been shepherding myself through a bit of a fallow period. Sometimes you just have to stop and be for awhile. That pause between growth and falling back, or the quietude between storage and rebirth. Where ever you are, be compassionate with yourself. Honor all the cycles. The bright and the bold and the quiet and still. They are all parts of the cycle of life. And all are necessary.
Be well, and please be in touch!
blessings,
Penny
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