Emotional Health…in Trying Times

Emotional Health

Each week we are dealing with changes that have been thrown our way…like it or NOT! I am guessing that most of you are realizing that just about every human emotion there is has surfaced inside of your body one way or another during this last week. Beautiful peace, and loving thoughts can quickly turn to worry, indecision, sadness, anxiety, fear, and anger. These parrots sounded like they were yelling at each other or at us. We couldn’t help comment on how totally noisy their voices can be. Hmm, that sounds familiar…

Change is happening fast and it’s often very unpredictable. Information is put in front of us in every form, but it’s hard to listen at times due to such sensationalized reporting techniques. And of course our families and friends have their own ideas they want to share with us. Some is good of course, and other times it’s hard to separate their ideas from our own. These changes we are experiencing are difficult for the human side of us to handle.

I will share with you that at the this very moment, anxiety seems to well up inside of me ~ even as I write! I can often deflect it through quick breathing techniques or activating the heart ~ brain coherence by rubbing or tapping my heart center. I am enjoying time for yoga and longer meditation in the morning.  I have loved the TIME to keep up with timely webinars and zoom chats with amazing spiritual teachers I love. Their words help me always.

And did you know that Oprah and Deepak Chopra are doing another free 21 day meditation series? The title is Hope in Uncertain Times. What a great series for this difficult time for all of us! It started this week, today will be day 4. But, you can still join it and even go back and listen to the initial ones. I believe they stay open for five days. Click here or on the title above to sign up if you are interested. I always find their words helpful and it’s a change in meditation style. Change is good for us! (Much as we wish we weren’t experiencing the changes in our daily life right now!)

But, I really want to know, why does anxiety keep resurfacing? What emotions are you experiencing?

Before I began my self searching for a why, I needed to remember to put myself into that beautiful place of gratitude…an emotion we can create in words, thoughts, and through visualization. I love this quote that helps us remember “gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions.”

Let’s explore together! I just wrote down a few private thoughts about my anxiety on paper. I think the act of soul journaling helps us to acknowledge the emotion is there and I’m already  feeling less anxious because I shared it with myself and even you! It’s good for all of us to remember we are human and we all have human related emotions!

After listening to Gregg Braden’s You-Tube video about the Corona Virus, it helped me to conceptualize that it isn’t as much about fear as it is about grief! This was a new thought for me to ponder. We are all experiencing grief about losing our way of life ~ changes that we have no control over. Changes that are not just affecting us, but everyone around us. We see our routines change and our ability to be with family, neighbors and friends. The world’s reactions are shaping our own thoughts in ways we can’t quite comprehend.

Gregg shared the five stages of grief that Elizabeth Kubler Ross shared with the world. Now I wish I was home to pick up her book and review her thoughts. I decided that in order to track down my own anxiety, perhaps I should see where I fit into these five stages of grief!

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Depression
4. Bargaining
5. Acceptance

As I looked back at my soul writing, I know exactly where I was…depression. Luckily I didn’t stay there for too long, but I did recognize that I had gone through all of these. First I denied that it was really going to affect me that much. We would follow all the guidelines, but we certainly weren’t going to stay inside and mope around!

Then little angry thoughts surfaced as I realized what I could not do what we had planned even though I am feeling perfectly healthy. I also noticed that little anger thoughts popped out (or more like frustration) with how other people were reacting. You’ve seen the Florida beach pictures and I thought..”good grief, what is wrong with these people?” Oh yeah, they are still in denial. Other conversations and reactions with people were tipped in the direction of  total over reaction and that proved to be frustrating to me as well. I fell into the trap of letting everyone else’s thoughts thread into my own.

That’s when anxiety (another name? Depression!) started to surface. My body memory was kicking in for sure and I didn’t even recognize it. Looking back, I can say the anxiety was coming from PAST changes and PAST experiences and it was so easy for me to fall back into old patterns. Yes, I recognized my human traits! I know in listening to an amazing talk with Suzanne Giesemann about this tumultuous time, she reminded us all that difficult situations presented to us in life are our greatest teachers of lessons we came to learn! I recognized what triggered my buttons for sure. Great reminder for me.

Now I suppose I’m working in both bargaining and acceptance mode. I can just hear my words…”If we just get through this isolation period there’s no need to make even bigger changes like giving in and driving back home. Yes, the big beaches are closed, and now state parks in Florida. But Michigan is totally shut down.  Everything in life and nature is temporary! I know that. All of a sudden my thoughts and my anxiety LIFTED. It’s not that we aren’t still dealing with changes EVERY day…we are and so are all of you! But I am remembering to choose light, to choose peace, and above all to choose love.

There is something that lifts when we recognize our emotions! That is how we can maintain our emotional health. I’ll share one more Suzanne Giesemann nugget of wisdom she shared this week in her talk.

She shared a new phrase for us to say to ourselves as we observe what it takes to remain neutral, search for our own thoughts in silence, and stay peaceful!

“Isn’t that interesting!” 

Instead of oh my goodness that’s awful, or oh my that is just not right…try these words instead. “Isn’t that interesting!” YES…it works! I have been trying to say this phrase as I hear new information and it’s awesome! I can rise above and see a greater picture emerging. YES, change is coming. But, there will be amazing good changes emerging.

STAY SAFE and LOVE YOURSELF FEARLESSLY!