Don’t Just Sit There…

September 2020

…DO SOMETHING!!

And then do nothing.

Times are a changin’ that’s for sure! Maybe it’s a new opportunity to observe where you are and explore where you would like to go.

There’s a quote I heard during my most recent coaching training that makes a lot of sense. “Some people live 90 years and others live the same year 90 times.” Which are you? Are you changing with these challenging times? Or are you getting stuck in the worries of this pandemic and social unrest?

I had a conversation with my hair stylist Carmen yesterday about the pain of what our world is experiencing. It’s as if our world is struggling to give birth to something new. Birth pains are extreme and life altering for sure. Yet once this new life is born, the pain is immediately replaced by an overwhelming sense of love, wonder, and boundless possibilities for life. See it this way and welcome in that Love that will overtake it all. Make a commitment to live a spectacular life starting today. Decide to be a joyous part of the changes that are here.

Trying times

As we are seeing the changes happening around us it is very easy to get caught up in the effects of furloughs, unpaid bills, the unsureness of employment, being sick, helping those who need our support. And the ongoing generational challenges of institutional racism, and socio-economic disparities showing itself more clearly during this vulnerable time of the pandemic. We as a nation could not navigate our way to giving people fair and livable wages, nor treat all people with dignity and respect, and while we are vulnerable the truth is laid bare.

Finding ourselves where we are causes pause. We can’t sit silently any longer. We are a ‘global’ community. Here at home we are a nation that is suffering and struggling. Fear and anger runs rampant. Young people close to me are anxious about the future. I feel helpless trying to impart a sense of peace in the midst of the pandemonium.

Start here

Starting with ourselves always seems to be my go to answer. Take a moment to examine how you feel. Admit it, express it, share it, and last but not least release it.

Stressors can be both good and bad. The problem is the nervous system doesn’t necessarily recognize the difference, nor does it care. A wedding (good) and a car crash (bad) will both elicit the body’s natural stress response: increased heart rate and blood pressure, changes in respiration, increased muscle tone, increased alertness of hearing and vision.

All this is caused by a rush of adrenalin. This helps us survive the moment. But if allowed to go on too long it will have negative impacts on one’s overall health and well-being. And for those of you with already challenged health it can be disastrous. I’ve seen it for years in my work as an Occupational Therapist working with people post-stroke or heart attack.

Stop everything…

…and just breathe. Take a moment to admit what you’re experiencing, express it out loud to yourself, and share all the challenges you are facing with someone you know and trust if you’d like, and then breathe. Let me share with you how I teach breathing to my patients experiencing pain and or stress:

Sit or lie down with your arms uncrossed comfortably at your side. Take a nice deep breath in through your nose by the count of two. Then gently exhale through your mouth by the count of four. Your exhalation will be twice as long as your inhalation. Do this at least five times.

Simply focus on each breath, and with each inhalation imagine “the goodness of life” entering into your entire body. And with every exhalation expel and release every worry and stressor that plagues your mind. Seek to find the ease that is yours in the moment. Dispel into the abyss the dis-ease that wants to take over your mind and heart.

This is the work your body can do to bring your body, mind, and spirit into a harmonious sense of peace. Be grateful for every breath being gifted to you. Your energy will once again be lifted and expanded into the wondrous potentials of this life. Physiologically the stress response is reversed. Your muscles relax, your heart rate slows, your blood pressure drops to a more normal rate, and you are free again to imagine the best of life today. So don’t just sit there! Breathe – and be grateful while imagining the best of life around you.

Be well, Raphael Angel