by Marcy | Inspiration
Whether it’s the global crisis, family stress or way too much on your to-do list, sometimes we just get bogged down. Our energy flattens, worry loops start cycling and everything feels hard. In those moments, it’s hard to find joy.
It happens to us all and it’s good to have some tools in your back pocket to pull you back to your natural, resilient self. This is important because trying to manifest the business of your dreams from flat, bogged-down energy, just isn’t going to work.
Once you notice you are a mess and want something different, here’s a three-step process that will help.
1. Get out of your head.
Your mind is whirring away with worry and judgement. Your first step is to get out of your head – that’s where all that gunk lives. Anything that will pause the constant chatter is good. You can focus on your breathing for 5-10 minutes, go put on some music and dance, play with a toddler, work in your garden, make some art or anything that gets you into a different headspace. It’s about moving from survival brain to the generative, intuitive part of the brain.
2. Actively go in search of joy
The only thing you need to feel happy is appreciation and gratitude. That’s what fuels joy. There are a few ways to do this; sit down and make a list of what you are grateful for, think about things or people you appreciate, make a collage of things that make you happy, or my favorite – get your smart phone out and take pictures of everything that makes you smile. For me, this one activates the artist part of my brain and gets me fully engaged.
3. Tune into inspiration
Once you’ve given yourself this kind of a break, come back to the situation that had you bogged down. From this new refreshed headspace, tune into what you feel inspired to tackle – and do that.
This is something you can do whenever you feel bogged down and disconnected from joy. For those familiar with the Positive Intelligence work, what this does is interrupt your Saboteurs and help you connect to Sage mind. The more you practice, the easier it gets.
by Marcy | Inspiration, Personal Development
What does well-being look like for you?
I had to spend some time with this one, especially in light of the current pandemic. For me it came down to three things. A balance between action and reflection, awareness of my needs and making sure I’m tending to them reasonable well. When those things are in place I can feel like I’m on solid ground. It’s easy to find joy, receive and give love, laugh and create. It’s easy to feel a deep sense of well-being.
Lately ‘solid ground’ has not felt so solid and it has left me feeling unsettled and out of sorts.
Years ago a good friend said, Marcy you are too much ‘sun’ and not enough ‘moon’. I knew exactly what she meant – it’s that balance between being and doing, left brain activity and right-brain receptiveness.
Our culture values ‘sun’ > action, achievement, progress, productivity. As a whole we have been too much sun. The pandemic however has forced us to collectively stop, slow down and stay home. Anytime you have been in bright sun for a long time and get thrown into night-time with nothing but a sliver of moon, it’s going to be hard to find your way. But your eyes will adjust.
As you fully embrace ‘moon’ a new solid ground will emerge. This is a reminder to myself as well as you.
This is the gift of this time. To re-connect or connect more deeply to the anima, to the feminine, intuitive, gentle, healing moon energy.
Just as there are ‘sun’ practices; maintaining routine, going to work, ticking off the to do list, figuring things out, developing strategies, staying in motion, meeting deadlines, there are also ‘moon’ practices.
Moon practices include the arts, prayer, nature, stillness, honoring natural rhythms, deep listening, resting, receiving, healing and tending to the interior life.
Moon practices will open you in new ways, invite inner guidance and allow the divine feminine to lead. The divine feminine is demanding to be experienced right now and this is fertile ground. This is where we plant and nurture the seeds for what is to come. It is important to keep dreaming.
My invitation to you, find your moon practices, dream and be well in this fertile pause.