Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Lauren Walker, author of the new Energy to Heal.
We tend to think that we are smart, rational people. We make decisions based on logic, sometimes doing pro/con lists, just to make sure that we’re making the right choice. If we’re feeling emotional, we often put a decision off, making sure we’re calm, centered, and grounded first. But the truth is, those emotions tell us everything, and your emotional state affects your health more deeply than anything else. Eat a lot of green smoothies, cut out dairy and red meat, stop eating sugar—but if you’re still stressed out, angry, or depressed, your health will suffer.
Emotions are what propel you to do everything! You were in love with that man, so you married him. That movie was so sad, you cried all night, and then you volunteered at the animal shelter because you were so moved by the protagonist in the film. You cheer your home team and boo the rivals. You stand up at the City Council meeting and passionately plea that over-development stops. You do everything you do because of how you feel.
But your emotions can hijack you, too.
Ever date the man who was a liar, a cheat, and always late? Why did you stay with him? Something in your heart yearned for him despite knowing he wasn’t a good man. Ever yell at your kids for messing up, and then feel awful afterwards?
Did you ever cry at a movie and then after, say: “I felt emotionally manipulated.”
Emotional manipulation is the currency of Madison Avenue advertisers, despotic governments, and Nigerian Prince emails, begging you to help.
Is it possible to own your own thoughts, to know your own truth, and to stay in alignment with that? After all, if you dated that bad man, you know you can be manipulated by your own out-of-balance heart.
One of the most important things to learn in an Energy Medicine Yoga practice is how to discern your own truth from the dogmas you’ve been programmed with. How to stay in alignment with the things that will serve you and make you stronger, instead of break you down and make you weaker.
I want to share with you the THREE easiest things you can do to help you stay calm in the face of any event so you can start to discern the truth.
- Put your hand over your forehead, like you’re taking your temperature. This hold keeps you from going into fight-or-flight response, and helps you stay grounded and centered.
- Put two fingers in the hollow at the base of your throat. Similar to the first hold, this one will calm you down if things are starting to feel intense. Holding here allows you to stay present so you can respond to any situation.
- Get a copy of my new book, The Energy to Heal, to learn why those two holds work, and to learn my easy process for dealing with any kind of stress or trauma that comes your way!
Our thanks to Lauren for her guest post! For more from Lauren Walker, read her article “1,000,000 Easy Ways to Get Healthy Right Now.”
