There is a lot of things changing in the world right now that is leading to a lot of uncertainty about what the future will look like. This used to terrify me too (and at moments still can)! I would get caught up in the worst case scenario and try to protect myself from it by playing it safe. After all, as the saying went it’s better safe than sorry… I used to think if I could get everything under control and figure out the right thing to do, I could get the world to stop spinning for a moment, catch my breath and get myself on the right path. The problem was, understanding my life through this lens, I lost site of the good things that were possible too! Back then I didn’t understand that the chaos brewing in my life was the thing that was redirecting me to that path, I just thought I was getting it wrong.
Last year, I decided to shake up my life. The suffocation of playing it safe was getting to be too much to bear. I couldn’t get the chaos to stop, but I could start deciding how I responded to it! What would happen if I decided to stop trying to control everything around me and started trusting that I could handle whatever was put in front of me? Make the choices I wanted? Lived? Yes, I was scared, but what I learned was that the things that frightened me were the things that showed me own strength and seeing that there really was nothing to be afraid of to begin with (I used to think this was cliché too). In retrospect, I was glad it happened!
As I write this, I am 7 months pregnant. The world is afraid of the coronavirus and trying to control its spread. Tensions are high, everything is being put on pause, life is being cancelled. I used to hide to. I followed someone else’s rules in order to be a team player, I censored my opinions to not offend others even when something didn’t feel right, I changed my plans to conform with other’s expectations. What happened is I became a zombie, technically I was living, but I wasn’t alive. The solution I discovered was to STOP HIDING.
I am being asked to stop hiding on a much bigger scale now! It is interesting being pregnant at a time when the going solution is to hit the pause button and hide. This baby has taught me that life will not stop just because you want it to. Whether I’m ready or not, he’s coming. Life will not stop because you are afraid. Right now you have a powerful decision to make:
How do you want to live your life?
What is important to you?
Are you going to let what you’re afraid of stop you?
Yes, it feels like the stakes are extremely high right now. The message that is being spread is one wrong move and you’ll die. I am arguing, make your move and you will finally start living! So how do you do that when you feel afraid? When you’re not sure what action to take? When you don’t know what to believe? Simple (not to be confused with easy). Get out of your head and into your body. When you get in your body and clear your nervous system you will allow creative solutions to surface as open yourself up to the abundance of possibilities available to you. Here are my top three tips on how you can clear your nervous system so you can get clarity on your next steps:
3 tips to clear your nervous system
1. Dump Your Brain: Your mind is a wonderful thing, but it can concoct some crazy stories. Take a few minutes to separate yourself from the chatter. A great way to do this is grab a scrap piece of paper or a journal and write down everything that is cluttering your mind. You don’t need to do anything with it, just write it down.
2. Slow Your Roll: To get started, begin ujjayi breathing (aka Darth Vader breath) to a count of 4. If you aren’t used to this, it may take some practice, so be patient with yourself. To do this, start to breathe like you are trying to fog a mirror. Once you feel you got a rhythm going, start to count to four as you inhale, then count to four as you exhale. This will allow your breath to slow down and give you space for perspective.
3. Activate Your Body: When you are scared, the body’s natural response is to active the fight-or-flight response. Which is great in short burst to an immediate threat but can become counterproductive over longer spans of time to a perceived threat somewhere in the future. To reverse this, you want to open your body and let your unconscious mind know that you are safe so you can reactivate your autonomic nervous system. One of my favorite poses to do for this is puppy dog pose! Hold this pose for 3-5 minutes! Make the hold more dynamic by wagging your tail and massaging your forehead on a block or the floor.
Life is going to happen whether you’re ready or not, make sure you’re ready by keeping your nervous system clean.
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