Today I am aware of fear arising in me. Fear of scarcity and survival…
If we know that the universe is abundant and never ending then why do we fear being provided for? It is at the point of separation from the present moment that we a allow something to take hold of our thoughts and give them importance and meaning. This insidious force that takes over has been called the ego by many schools of thought and I have affectionately named it “my monkey brain”. I say affectionately because if we rage against it or resist it we give it importance the thus feed it.
If you feed the “monkey brain” by giving your thoughts meaning and then attaching an emotion about the thoughts then the monkey grows, multiplies and invites friends over for all those great fear bananas you’re feeding it. How can we catch this seemingly unconscious process that goes on auto-pilot for most of us and takes over our day? By tuning into the body and its sensations.
The body does not lie. Today as I spent the morning in my “new office” I was aware of a slight anxiety that was growing. I kept myself busy making new contacts via email and networking on Facebook and yet this feeling in the background seemed to grow. By the time I got up to go meet a friend at her office… another local cafe… lol… I could feel that this “feeling” was not dissipating despite my every effort to ignore it. I checked in with my body finally – what was happening? I could sense that the area of my solar plexus was tense and active and that I had some heaviness in my heart center. I sent breath into these areas and I asked them: “What do you need?” Within seconds the answer came; security and certainty. As a result of not staying present and allowing my monkey brain to take over I was now feeling anxiety in my body and mind and I was completely out of the NOW. Did I mention I am now living in BEAUTIFUL Mexico?? Who would want to be anywhere else right? Let alone engulfed by fear? The fears that were arising where about my being able to financially support myself in my new life, I didn’t realize it but as I was making contacts and reaching out to others I was also in fear and anxiety was rising in me. My thought process at the time was completely unconscious and I was unaware of this silent predator.
The need for certainty is a fundamental and deep fear for most of us and it is only cure is staying in the present moment and in gratitude for what you already have. Fears stops the universal flow that is continually waiting to give you what you need in any given moment. When we allow our minds to get taken over by thoughts of scarcity and lack we stop the mechanism that is coming our way to provide those very things we need.
Exercise: Stop, tune into your body, feel where the tension is, ask it to tell you what it needs and then breath… return the present moment. Don’t give your thoughts or feelings meaning… visualize them flowing through you like water through a sieve. Focus your attention on your breath and what is around you, breath again, then make a list of all the places you are blessed and abundant!
Namaste