Dealing with challenge & difficulties
None of us are immune to challenges, upset and conflict but what I want to explore with you is how can we cope, deal and move forward from these situations.
When a situation arises which doesn't please you and you feel sad, upset or anxious, often the experience of these emotions arise because something hasn't met our expectations. You were hoping for a different outcome and feel let down, frustrated & even angry when things don't work out the way we had planned.
As humans we are all effected by these feelings and sometimes you feel as though the universe is just throwing you a curve ball after curve ball. You can easily become "attached" and even addicted to your life projections and ideals working out a certain way...
Here's a few things which may help you (they have certainly helped me...).Â
Of course with all of this, there are no hard and fast rules. This is not a "how to" blog more a gift of support and inspiration should you need it.
Become Present
My "go to" practice (when the *beep* hits the fan) take some time to just become fully align to the here and now. Breathe. Sit. And ground. And breathe some more.
Emotional sensitivityÂ
A theme or lesson which keeps coming up for me is this. There seems to be a social expectation that it is OK, to close down our emotional sensitivity and restrain from showing how we really feel. For example, when you are balling your eyes out and someone very loving says "...don't cry..." or "stop crying, its not worth it..." These on the surface are kind words of support... but if we ALWAYS stop ourselves from feeling this way what happens? Speaking for myself this unconscious practice can stifal and stop emotional release and cause us to bottle up how we truely feel. This has a long term effect as the emotions will be stored and buried within our bodies. We then carry this extra heaviness and weight as an emotional load.Â
Have you ever had that moment for no obvious reason, you feel sad, upset and even tearful? I believe this is the emotional load taking the opportunity to release and bubble to the service. Our natural state of being is to be happy and content so the unconscious and intellectual subtle body KNOWS it to be a good thing to let those emotions be released rather than carried by us -- pure magic! Gives me goosebumps thinking about it, I love this stuff...
So of course it begs the questions, why are we so uncomfortable when someone cries? I know it is not easy to see someone upset and cry, but if we respect and give space for each other to let those tears roll down our faces, ' boy oh boy, I think we can demonstrate an empowerment and love to our emotions. And let's be honest, how good do you feel after a good cry?!Â
Ebbs & FlowsÂ
This can be hard to swallow but sometimes we are just dealt a bad deal because of being a student of life and living in this amazing yet crazy world. I like to imagine our lives are like little collections of cycles, spirals and waves. We have some good stuff, some not so good, some really awful "I can't cope!" sorta stuff, then some more beautiful stuff, topped with some more incredible stuff.Â
IÂ try to avoid the cheesy sayings, but sometimes they just say it so well.
"You can't appreciate the darkness without the light, nor can you see the light without the darkness"
So even if its for a fleeting moment, KNOW and TRUST. What has happened, will pass. Things will change.
Come back to yourself with gratitude
Return into your sweet self and try to find something to be grateful for. Seek out the parts of your day which are totally working wonderfully and honour that. Gratitude is the attitude!Â
I LOVE to write so I often journal or scribble down what I am grateful for. (This can be a wonderful ritual or regular practice to get into. It can make up your yoga, spiritual or own self development practices)
It's normal to feel how you feel
Please let this be a reassurance to YOU that it is all going to be OK. And any feelings you experience are valid, held and acknowledged. Try to approach how you feel with an open heart and be kind and compassionate to yourself at this time.
Thanks for reading
Layna x
