Choose Love for Change
““Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.”
As I watch world events and engage with my clients, I realize that we truly are at a crossroads. What I am witnessing is the great shifts in our culture and world as we are healing from Patriarchy and the enormous wounds this system has created for humans as well as all the Beings of Earth. Worldwide the shifts can no longer be ignored. Unfortunately, there is a human tendency to react with fear towards change. Fortunately, this is not a necessity, but a choice and we can just as easily (well perhaps with a little conscious awareness) choose Love.
It does not take long to witness the reactions of fear in our culture, whether it be towards the Coronavirus, Climate Change, our political system, our efforts to “control” Nature, or even the push towards mandatory vaccinations. The truth is that fear kills, whether it be through the numerous effects of stress on our bodies and immune systems or through mental illness or by making decisions which result in hurting others. Fear causes separation, othering, and isolation. Fear creates chaos in our own energetic bodies as well as in the wider world. Fear limits our growth and reduces our possibilities. (To be clear, I am referring to unhealthy and unbalanced fear and anxiety. In its pure form, healthy fear can inform our intuition about dangerous situations and help us to make calm and rational decisions.)
I have witnessed the growing fear of our culture appear in my clients as a significant increase in malevolent magic even among those who do not usually experience this. The phenomena has been so great that I wrote a social media post about it recommending that people increase their energy hygiene. (Please note that in our culture, most malevolent magic is a result of unconscious behavior which does not give attention to the energy behind words and actions.)
So ingrained is the patriarchal framework and our responding to change with fear, that sometimes we think we are choosing Love, when we are not. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the framework, container, viewpoints, belief systems which have guided our life, whether we wanted them to or not. Some of the fear popping up is from those who have benefited from the current system or at least enjoyed some privileges, afraid that their world will come to an end. The culture of the United States has been very individual centric. “What can I get?” “How does this benefit me?” This again is an example of fear, particularly fear around abundance. Love recognizes that abundance and interconnection is the nature of the Universe; therefore, we cannot succeed or be healthy while others suffer from our actions.
Saying that we want to choose Love is often much easier than actually doing so. Fortunately, the more we choose Love, the easier it becomes. So how do we respond to our changing times with Love?
Actions to help us choose Love:
Energy Hygiene
As I mentioned fear can create chaos in our energy bodies. When fear is present in our aura, it can act as a filter through which everything passes. The more fear present, the thicker and more rigid this filter is. It is hard for us to receive accurate information through this filter and the fear clouds our judgment. The presence of fear can also result in mental illness. Therefore, it is important that we keep our energetic bodies as clean as possible. I have an E-book that I wrote about Energy Hygiene with some suggestions for keeping the aura clean. It is not an exhaustive list of methods for Energy Hygiene, but a good starting point. If you have not received this e-book and would like it, please email me (jen@brigidsway.com) and I am happy to share it with you.Grounding
Grounding means being connected to the Earth, as well as the Cosmos. Another way of saying this is being centered. When we are not grounded, it is easy to throw us off of our center resulting in us reacting with fear more easily. There is much emphasis on increasing awareness and consciousness through opening the Crown chakra; however, if we are not grounded the increase in information that flows through us has nowhere to go, which often results in mental illness and anxiety. Many clients who have come to me for anxiety are not grounded and have an overwhelmed aura, there is too much energy and information floating around them and they cannot make sense of it or find the calm. There are a number of ways in which you can ground, my favorite is imagining that you have roots growing from the base of your spine and the bottoms of your feet which grow down into the Earth. Through these roots, you can access wisdom and energy which you then bring up into your body and eventually out your crown chakra, continuing out into the Universe. Thus connecting you with the Earth and the Universe. Another great way to ground is to spend time with a Tree, align your spine with the trunk of the Tree, and allow the Trees roots to pull your energetic roots into the Earth.
Spending Time in Nature
Nature is an incredible healer and balancer. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or stress, I stop and pay attention with curiosity to what is going on in my life. The answer is always, I am not spending enough time in Nature. I just attended the “Nature of Place Symposium” at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA. While there I heard numerous studies that demonstrate the importance of time in Nature for our well-being. Our need for close proximity to Nature is innate. There is a tendency to think that this requires extensive time in the Wild. However, Nature is all around us, even in cities. It is more important that we have daily access (even just 5 minutes a day) to the Nature that is close (which can be a potted Plant or a view of a Tree from a Southeast window). Spending sufficient time in Nature is a natural form of energy hygiene, grounding, and my next suggestion, moving into Heart entrainment.
Heart Entrainment
This could also be described as acting from one’s Heart space. The Heartmath Institute has done extensive research on the benefits of Heart entrainment. When we move into this space, we become less stressed and more creative, we can see the gifts in each situation, we move out of a reactive state to a receptive state, we have a wider perspective with access to more possibilities and outcomes, we bond with others more easily, we experience greater harmony, our body relaxes, our breathing slows, we reduce the production of cortisol and increase the production of the anti-aging hormone DHEA, we are able to heal more effectively, and we are more likely to experience bliss. When we are in this Heart space, it becomes easier to respond with Love. Moving into this can take some practice, again the more you do this, the easier it is to maintain Heart entrainment. There are a number of positive Heart impulses which facilitate Heart entrainment including: experiencing or choosing joy, childlike wonder, appreciation, gratitude, forgiveness, and trust. One of the easiest to practice is gratitude. When you are feeling good, you can make a list (yes, write this down) of everything that you are grateful for, perhaps you need to start with 10 items. Keep this list handy. When you start to feel yourself get stressed or react with fear, read the list, of course, feel free to add to it. In time, you should notice a shift. I suggest to my students (and clients) that they get to know this shift, what occurs in their body when they move into Heart entrainment. For me, my shoulders drop, my Heart opens, my breathing slows, and my energy body expands. Once you know how your body responds, it becomes easy to know if you are in a place of Heart entrainment or if you are reacting and you can quickly return to Heart entrainment.
Healing Trauma and Shifting Beliefs
We all have experienced trauma in our lives. This trauma can cloud our reactions and affect our ability to choose Love. If we want to live truly happy and peaceful lives, experiencing our fullest selfs, we need to heal and release our trauma. When we do, we no longer are imprisoned by our wounds and fears. Likewise, sometimes our belief systems prevent us from choosing Love. Beliefs are meant to be shifting and changing, particularly as we grow and have different experiences. When we have rigid beliefs, we create a hardening in our energetic bodies, which limits our experiences of this world and our connection to others. This can also impact our health. As the world is changing and shifting faster than before, our beliefs also need to shift. We are witnessing this with some of our legislative changes. If our beliefs cause harm to others, we do not benefit from them and it is our responsibility to change. Fortunately, there are many modalities that can help heal from trauma and shift beliefs including Flower Essences, Plant Spirit Healing, PSYCH-K, EFT, EMDR, and more.
Being Conscious of Our Thoughts
Our thoughts are powerful. They are how we create our reality and collectively, the world. Our culture often does not recognize the power of thoughts and so they have too often been encouraged to run amok. If we want to choose Love, we need to become conscious of our thoughts and particularly, those thoughts which we direct towards our selves. As we do this, we may confront some beliefs which we were previously unaware of which may be out of alignment with our truth. The more we can shift our thoughts towards Love, the more alignment we experience.
Choosing Love
Is this not the lesson from our Spiritual ambassadors? Love is not only the answer, Love is the way. We need to consciously choose Love, consciously choose to act from Love. This is how we heal and how we embrace our potential. It is through Love that we create the world. Love is life affirming. Love is inclusive. Love is powerful. Love is who we are.
We can mess up, we can respond with fear, it’s okay. We are human, we are not meant to be perfect. However, our efforts and our attempts to choose Love are vital.
In Through the Eyes of Love: Book Two, Michael J. Roads writes:
“In the energy-fields-of-probability, one precipitates another. This means that the only certainty is Love. The only firm and stable ground is Love. The only place to be is Love. The only springboard is Love. Love—not emotional love—unconditional Love. Absolute Love. Divine Love. Love is an earthquake to every probability that could exist. Love shatters all probabilities creating the certainty of Love.
I see probability after probability unfolding its possibilities. I also see another certainty. The greater the number of people who are Loving and in-their-hearts, the more optimistic the future scenario will be for everybody. The greater the number of people who are fearful and in-their-heads, the more pessimistic the scenario will be for those of that energy… What we know in our brains will make no difference. Who we are in our hearts will be the deciding factor. We can hide our inner deceits from people, even from ourselves, but never from consciousness.”
Choose Love. And remember the Plants and Nature are always there to help.
~ Jen Frey