It is safe to be present…

Today I want to talk a bit about stress, and how to release its lasting impacts from your body and mind.

When you go through a traumatic event or stressful time period, changes take place in your physiology. Your nervous system goes into “fight/flight/freeze” mode, and this affects all of your systems.

While this may be helpful in the moment, the issue is that your body can get stuck in this mode, even long after the threat or stressor has passed.

In this way, if you don’t release the pattern from the cellular level, difficult experiences and stressful time periods can continue to live with you, affecting your day-to-day life even many years later.

Your adrenals, nervous system, and endocrine system remain geared up for danger in moments that are actually safe, calm, and serene.

This background of fear/ stress response can lead the mind to be constantly running, trying to plan for possible problems and control future outcomes in order to create a sense of safety.

We might notice this happening, or it might just be the program that runs in the background, keeping your nervous system on high alert, and your adrenals pumping out stress hormones.

When this is the case, it can be hard to truly settle into feeling safe, present, calm, and connected. And this persistent background stress response can also lead to chronic inflammation, problems with digestion, and reduced immunity…

…When your nervous system is in “fight or flight,” your body can’t devote resources to the healing projects that take place during moments of rest and relaxation.

And that is the gift of this current moment.

Each season brings unique benefits and opportunities.

Along with the shifts and changes in the natural world, our own inner rhythm attunes with the energy around us, inviting us to focus on certain themes in both our physical and emotional body at particular times of year.

The Daoist origins of Traditional Chinese Medicine, rooted in centuries of observation of the natural world and the inner landscape, gives us great insight into what these seasonal themes are.

In Winter, we’re able to focus on balancing fear, the nervous system, our adrenals, and our physical sense of support and security reflected in lower back and knee health.

Through balancing these themes, we can engage with the deep stillness, peace, and presence of this season.

Next week, I’m going to share something I’ve created for you to help you unwind the impact of past stress from your cellular memory so you can truly enjoy the stillness and peace of being able to settle into the moment.

Keep your eyes open for that special offer on Monday.

For now, I invite you to work with this affirmation, to begin to still your mind.

See what it brings up for you:

• “It is safe to be present in the moment”

How does that feel?

When you work with it, can you start to notice a slowing down? A settling in?

Working with this statement can help your mind relax so you can ease into the spaciousness of letting your heart take back over. (Your mind is never really meant to be in charge in the first place…)

Let me know how that goes!

To build on this, I’ll be in touch next week with a special offer to help you fully harness the gifts of Winter, and release the physical and emotional impacts of fear, trauma, and stress.

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Until soon,

~Amberlee