You may not have noticed this but I have … both in myself and in others.
Due to the high state of alert which is pervasive right now, our brains are being consistently kicked into survival mode, which reduces (and sometimes eliminates) our ability to access peace yet alone the positivity, presence and creativity we all need right now.
To reduce the amount of fear and worry that seeps in we can limit our exposure to television, the news and our social media news feeds, BUT let’s recognize the insidious ways that fear is still creeping in — and let’s do something about it for ourselves and the people we’re with.
Ways that fear is creeping in:
- When the sign off of every conversation is, “Stay Safe.” I understand it is delivered in the spirit of love, but let’s recognize that those two little words signal the brain … “Hey wait a minute! There must be something to be protect myself from right now. I better put up my guard and extra protections.” i.e. The brain is being signaled to go into survival mode. How about instead we end our conversations with, “Thank you for spending this time with me. I so appreciate you.” or “Namaste” or “I love you.” Those statements evoke very different emotions (wouldn’t you agree?)
- Every time you touch your face (which is a lot of times throughout the day … who knew we touched our faces so much?!) The message that this is an unsafe action has been drilled into our minds so that every time you touch your face now, a signal is sent to the brain … “Oh no! I touched my face, it’s not safe.” And when the brain gets that signal … BAM survival mode is turned on.
- Let’s talk about toilet paper (guess I couldn’t help myself). When you go to the bathroom are you (like me) rationing, using less than you used to? That simple activity is once again triggering our brains … “Oh no! We are in desperate unsafe times and things are in low supply.” You know what happens next … BAM survival mode is turned on.
So … what can we do about this?
FIRST, Double Up On Vitamin F … Faith, Friendship, Fun and FRAMING.
FRAMING means to set the frame for how you want to feel and show up. I put together this short audio that I’m now asking all my clients to listen to BEFORE we get on a call or zoom together.
