Yesterday I wrote about the idea of simply showing up to life as a way of escaping the survive/thrive duality. Today I want to get very concrete about how to ground or integrate this energy in your life. Obviously, if you are truly in a survival situation—and I mean one that isn’t merely interpreted as such by your physical mind—or you are doing essential, front-line work in these times, this is not for you. This suggestion is for those of us who are currently house-bound and in relatively good health, and probably have more freedom of choice than we give ourselves credit for.
I’ve been working mostly from home for almost 20 years now, and up until the last few years, largely in a way that was out of alignment with my inner rhythm. I suffered mentally, emotionally, and eventually physically for my inability to live in balance with my natural flow, and this is why it is so important to me now to help clients connect with the natural balance within and anchor it into their daily lives.
Overwork was my main pitfall. I was my own taskmaster, and it was very difficult for me to take weekends off or even summer breaks. When I tried to impose boundaries for myself, it was like trying to build little boxes around something I could not see or control. If inspiration did not hit during the work hours I set for myself, then the whole house of cards would collapse, and I’d be back where I started, miserable unless I found myself in an intense work flow that made me feel productive.
That is what my happiness largely depended on, productivity. I was hooked on the deep satisfaction of looking at a checked-off to-do list and a full calendar. “Look how busy I am! I’m getting things done!” Putting out a piece of writing, getting further on a project, even doing a bit of busy work gave me a rush.
When I was forced to stay not only at home but in bed, and do nothing but deal with grief and burnout, I gradually started reconnecting with my true flow and my body’s natural intelligence. It started with very simple things such as deciding when I wanted to get out of bed, when I wanted to eat, if I wanted to take a nap. What this does is it disconnects you from the tyranny of standardized time, which is an externality that is convenient and even necessary in an industrialized, global society, but which is unrecognized by Nature.
In this extraordinary time, when the normal course of life is so radically upended—which is why it is sacred time—you can loosen some of the ties that bind you to old ways of being that perhaps have not been serving you for a very long time, but which you have unquestioningly kept up because you thought it was necessary for keeping things together.
Take the 9-5. Who is keeping you to those hours now? What assumptions keep that boundary in place? Are they truly in line with your energy for work? What new arrangement becomes possible in this time? (For me I realized that I hated scheduling Monday meetings.)
In these sacred times, where are you still clinging to old ways of being because that is the safe thing to do, the proven way, the way the collective has gone for years and years?
In these sacred times, how are you honoring your flow? How much of you is actually in the Here and Now of each and every moment? What is one thing less you can do today so you can become just a little bit more of your true Self?
In these sacred times, what are you saturating your energy fields with? Where are you placing your focus? When you connect to your center, what truly wants to be expressed in this moment Now?
When you flow with your own Brilliant System, boundaries become a thing of the past because you discover it is about integrity with your flow, your signature energy, which is unique in all of creation. Once you become attuned to your “home frequency,” you begin to choose things that feel right and true for you, and leave behind those that don’t. Work is play, play is work, even rest is practice, and all of it is learning and growth. All of it, in fact, can be experienced as bliss, for you are simply being present to the feeling of being your Self.
Treat this period of relative isolation, this enforced period of slowness and quiet, as a sacred ceremony, and see what that opens up for you. An entire universe lies within, just waiting to be discovered. Begin, as always, with a conscious breath.
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