The vague sense of uncertainty.

The indescribable pull of something bigger from deep inside of you.

The unshakeable sense of urgency.

And the courage and tenacity to follow the pull.

All of the above are signposts of the beginning of the heroes’ journey. Starting in everyday life, a call to begin a new and unusual path is received. If the call is answered there are tasks and trials on this path, both internal and external. Continuing the journey through the trials results in the discovery of important self-knowledge. The hero may choose to share their special gift with the world in order to improve it in some way.

Can you recognize yourself in this journey? No matter where you are in the journey tapping in to your subtle energy field can make the journey easier and more efficient.

The root chakra is the first chakra to be activated as an infant from conception to 6 months or so and then again during the teenage years around age 14 -15. The purpose it is revisited for is to heal any issues encountered during the previous years.

The root chakra archetype is the Hero in its positive expression and the Victim in its negative expression.

The focus of the energy in the root chakra is keeping life vibrant and sustainable. This is the energy that helps you stay grounded when undergoing change.  The Hero has a strong sense of structure and stability which provides a solid foundation for dreams and goals.

It is important to tap into the strengths of this archetype like the ability to create a strong stable foundation. A tendency to be patient and an innate sense of belonging

While being aware of the pitfalls of this energy like stepping into the victim mode and feeling powerless. Becoming stagnant because of strong attachment to the security of structure and stability rather than using it to lift you up and propel you on your journey.

Tapping into the energy of the root chakra can be done readily by imagining a red light moving up from the ground through the feet, legs, spinal column, and out the top of your head. If you have any resistance or feel stuck with the flow of the energy you can use a self-healing chakra cleansing technique to free up the energy.

Combine this with listening to your inner wisdom and taking inspired actions and you’ll move forward with a greater sense of security and support.

An ache here, a twinge there, we all get them.  Most of the time it’s brushed to the side, ignored until the ache becomes constant, the twinge becomes painful, and it’s interfering with every day life.  I call these physical symptoms Body Triggers, a key component to self-healing.  They are the physical manifestations of tension or relaxation and the subsequent movement of energy. During stressful times they are invaluable for helping you stay calm and easing worry/anxiety.

Your Check Engine Light is On

These Body Triggers are your early warning system, indicating a change in your energy flow.  They can indicate a positive flow or negative flow.  Your early warning system can be triggered by stress, a limiting belief, an action that’s out of alignment for you, a choice that’s good for you, fear, growth, or any number of internal or external circumstances.  Just like the check engine light in your car it’s a good idea to pay attention to them before it becomes a problem and like your car you have a mechanical break down.

     To become familiar with Body Triggers recall a time when you were nervous and had butterflies in your stomach, that was a body trigger.  If you continue to experience the nervousness, the body trigger gets stronger perhaps an upset stomach and long-term maybe a gastrointestinal disturbance.  Tuning in early and taking the time to learn what your body is telling you is invaluable. It helps you to trust your intuition and inner wisdom.

Applying this to every day life can be done by trying the following two techniques;

• When you notice an ache, pain, or new sensation in the body do the following:

• Pause and focus on the area where you’re noting the new sensation.

• Mentally review your recent behavior or thought pattern.( ex. your manager just made yet another unreasonable request, you felt angry, unappreciated, or powerless)

• Note what comes up, over time you’ll notice a pattern.  This pattern is the Body Trigger.

The other method is reflective, take a moment and get quiet;

1. Close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths

2. Do a Body Scan by moving your attention up through your body, starting at your toes and working up the body to the top of your head.

3. Notice the sensations in your body, tension, aches, pains, tingling, etc.

4. Now, vividly imagine a situation or event that you felt activated by (I suggest doing this twice, first with a negative and follow it with a positive)

5. Breathe in the experience, allowing the feelings to move through your body.

6. Do another Body Scan, noting any difference in the sensations you’re feeling.

{Repeat steps four through six as desired}

7. Take three deep breaths, consciously releasing any tension still held in your body.

8. Open your eyes and write down any observations. The physical sensations you felt were Body Triggers.

          As you become more aware of your own Body Triggers you’ll be able to quickly shift your energy.  Some of the more common Body Triggers are stiff neck, often associated with stubbornness of lack of flexibility or a warm tingly sensation running up and down your arms associated with recognizing the truth or a positive decision.  These are not set in stone.  You may have a Body Trigger that’s very different from the norm.  That’s why it’s important to tune into your own body and to decode your own early warning system.

          Learning to notice and respond to your early warning system takes practice, but the rewards are tremendous.  As a powerful self healing method , when you identify energy blocks early, you can often side step strong physical symptoms before they manifest.  You’re also able to hear your inner guidance more clearly and frequently, allowing you to take inspired action on a regular basis.

The clock glared 3:22 a.m., mocking me in my wakened state. Oh, how I dislike being up before 7 a.m., a throwback from all of those 5 a.m. mornings working at the hospital. This only adds fuel to my “monkey mind” buzzing from one thought to the next, chasing sleep further away with each thought.

Last week’s call on Emotional Energy quickly unveiled a common thread – anxiety, chronic low-grade anxiety that fills your mind with “what if’s” of the negative variety, and wakes you up in the middle of the night with a racing mind and no sleep in sight. It runs like static in the background ever present.

Even without the sleepless nights, it’s exhausting to live with chronic low-grade anxiety. It’s like quicksand slowly sucking you in while you feel helpless to change it or worse yet barely even notice it.

In today’s society, there is an epidemic of chronic low-grade anxiety, which over time escalates to physical symptoms. The constant change and uncertainty that we live in only adds to the problem.

Anxiety stems from fear. Not the fear derived from immediate danger, but the fear of what might happen. This fear of the “what if” causes anxiety because there is a gap between what’s happening in the moment and what your mind is projecting into the future. You cannot cope with anything in the future because you’re not there you’re here in the present. You can only cope with things here in the present moment.

Anything in the future is simply a projection of your mind. It hasn’t happened yet so you can’t cope with it. This creates a gap and our mind runs amok with the possibilities of what tragedy might befall us. The anxiety associated with this feels real and slows you down it can even become paralyzing.

Mind racing from one thought to the next, punctuated with the oh so not helpful “I have to get some sleep” this went on for about 20 minutes. I’m alternating between staring at the clock and staring at the ceiling, when I remember my big toe. Ohhhh, sweet relief, and I’m back to sleep before that clock hits 2:50 a.m.

My big toe is a pattern interrupt, a self healing method. As I focus my attention on my big toe, how it feels when it’s still, how it feels when it’s moving, the noise it makes when it hits the sheet, the sensation I feel when it bumps up against the other toe, it tricks my mind to drop the tragic stories its spinning and it brings my attention to the present moment.

I am no longer wondering and worrying what’s going to happen in the future. I am not thinking about what my toe is going to do next week, that’s just crazy, or wondering when sleep will return, (really just as crazy if you think about it). I am only focused on what my big toe is experiencing right now in the moment.

Kind of silly isn’t it….but it works I swear.

So, I invite you to give it a try. Next time you feel anxiety slipping in and you just can’t seem to shake it, take a look at your big toe.

I’ve heard so many people rave about a raw diet that I am willing to give it a whirl. The basic tenet of eating raw, fresh fruits and vegetables is appealing to me and the myriad of benefits increased energy, better sleep, clearer thinking, and weight loss all have me willing to forgo my morning coffee(maybe) and refrain from meat(at least for a little while) those are the two thing that I am going to miss the most.

I started a 21 day raw cleanse today, or rather I attempted to start the raw cleanse. I did have a cup of coffee…not sure I really want to give this up The raw day started with a large glass of fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice, quite possibly one of the best things I have ever tasted, and surprisingly filling. I had lunch with my daughter, sushi – sort of raw I reasoned, but kept to the raw theme the rest of the day.

Not bad I guess, this week is supposed to be an easing in week so your system doesn’t go into shock or anything. I can live with that. Maybe by the end of the week I’ll be more willing to go with out the coffee, maybe….

Energy Level – 6
Clear Thinking – 6
Sleep – (tell ya tomorrow)
Weight – (ditto)

Until tomorrow

This months’ focus is the ecosystem of our emotions. Emotions are essentially energy in motion. They elicit the response in us that we call feeling. Everyone experiences emotions and feelings differently for many, many different reasons. Your perception, state of being, the blocks that you have, your past experiences and beliefs all color your experience.

An area that can have a big impact on day to day life is an emotional block. A block is something that overtime, layer by layer, or sometimes in response to a major event, slows down the flow of energy, creating resistance and ultimately a block ( think of a pipe that is slow draining then finally completely clogs). This can be a repetitive thought, action, or numbing of an emotion.

Very often we ignore the slowing of the energy until physical symptoms are exhibited. When you clear the block, you allow the flow of energy to be reestablished and the symptoms dissipate. There are many, many different methods out there that are effective in dealing with emotional blocks.

EFT is one of the more popular and more effective ones. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. It involves tapping on the meridians or energetic pathways in the body by using the series of phrases called set-up phrases. What this does is disrupts the energy flow for a moment. The setup phrase helps to locate which vibration you’re targeting and the phrase introduces an alternative to the current patterns. By tapping through you re-pattern the energy flow, a recalibration in vibration of the energy if you will.

It’s a quick, easy, effective method. You can do it yourself or you could find an EFT practitioner to guide you. The set-up phrases sometimes can be a little difficult at first until you get the hang of it, so be sure to be gentle with yourself. The tapping points are shown below.

“Wow, that book was an emotional roller coaster for me!” I told my sister.  I had just finished reading Kristin Hannah’s Night Road.  The story had me laughing, crying, feeling happy, sad, angry and frustrated.  Sometimes, in a very short time span.

       When it comes to real life, the emotional roller coaster is something we would all prefer not to ride. Our cultural norms view emotional stability as a very desirable trait.  The truth of the matter is that what we refer to as stability is very often a numbing out or shutting down of our emotions. When we do this overtime it diminishes our capacity to feel emotions…. both the pleasant ones along with the unpleasant ones.

Emotions are essentially energy in motion and they elicit to response in us that we call a feeling.  Everyone experiences emotions and feelings differently for many, many different reasons.  Your perception, state of being, the blocks that you have, your past experiences and beliefs all color your experience.

All of these factors together make up your emotional ecosystem, the intricate interplay of a variety of factors that is unique to you.  Learning to feel your emotions without becoming lost or stuck in them is a cornerstone of managing your emotional ecosystem.

Emotions are part of our human experience and offer of a valuable source of information. Studies show that we have “mirror neurons” that allow us to empathize or feel what another person is feeling. This helps with connection and bonding.

When we experience emotional pain like fear, guilt, rejection, undeservability, or anger it can be a personal alert.  Often these painful emotions flag for us a moment to look more deeply at the situation that actually triggered it.

Positive emotions can provide us not only a sense of feeling good but an indicator of where we are connected and energy id flowing well.

Emotions are not always easy or comfortable but the numbing or burying of them ultimately results in blocks that impair your experience of other emotions as well, making it more difficult to connect with others on a deeper level.

I don’t know if the book that I was reading was a particularly evocative one, but for me the timing of it was quite telling.  I had recently brought my youngest child to live on campus in a dorm and my role as mother was shifting.  My level of interaction with her and role in her life was changing. The story line of the book really hit home for me.  And hence, I felt a very strong reaction.

If you want to open up to experience life more fully, next time you experienced draining emotion or a negative reaction to a pleasant emotion, try this activity.  Either in the moment or after the fact, it’s perfectly okay to process strong emotions in a setting that feels really safe to you.

1. Take a step back from the trigger situation and remind yourself that energy in motion or emotion is just part of the human experience.  Remove the judgment from it: For me it was the emotional roller coaster of the book.  It’s not a usual response for me to be so emotional in response to a book, and to have it linger.

2. Then notice where you feel it in your body.  Close your eyes and gently ask the energy to move.  Allow it to move through your body.  Imagine it as a river allowing it to flow right through you and then to the earth, you are the rivers bed so there is no danger of getting swept away.  This addresses the energetic piece and the flow of the energy.  The emotion wants to move.  It doesn’t want to take up residence and live inside of your body unless you block it. I had a very constricted feeling in my chest, allowing it to move left me feeling  a little drained(no pun intended) but much calmer.

3. Sometimes, this might be accompanied by crying or laughing or other physical triggers.  For me: I imagined a gentle shower just washing over me, allowing all of those emotions to just move through. (To see what was behind the strong reaction that I had  I also combined this with some Chakra work.)

4. Once you allow the emotion to move, check for a pattern, or emotional trigger and see if you can notice one.  For me, this was directly tied into my strong sense of not belonging that was triggered by my shifting role and brought to the surface by the book.  I looked to the pattern and I did a little bit of energy work(web work) on it.

5. The next step would be to release the pattern.  You can do this by either tapping and intentional release of the pattern or any technique that works well for you.  If you need some ideas or some specifics on tapping on intentional release, you can check the blog for more tools.

At first, this process may feel quite cumbersome, but quickly it becomes fast and efficient and it really does help keep the energy moving and helps prevent those emotional blocks that end up sometimes weeks, sometimes months or even years down the road as a stumbling block.  It also opens the door for more authentic intimate relationships with those around you.

What are some of your favorite tools for dealing with strong emotions?

One of  our greatest strengths is the capacity to be vulnerable. It takes great courage to be vulnerable, to open yourself up. That tender place of opening is at the core of our strongest emotions.

Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is the seed for profound joy, deep fear, love, and countless other emotions.  We cannot choose which emotions to feel and which to shut out. There is no switch that we flip that says yes love, no fear,we either feel the full spectrum or tone  them all down. Less fear, less uncertainty….less love, less joy too.

The video below of  Brene Brown explores the symptoms of losing the capacity for vulnerability,

• foreboding joy
• disappointment as a lifestyle
• low grade disconnection
• perfection
• extremism

She eloquently relates how our scarcity mentality, the constant messages we receive that we are not enough,  result in numbing our emotions.  The solution simple, yet not always easy, is gratitude and honoring the ordinary. Being mindful of each moment and the experience it holds.

Enjoy the video.

I would love for you to enter below in the comments something that you’re grateful for in your life.

With the holidays upon us there are  increased demands on our time, energy, and pocketbook. It can become overwhelming resulting in short tempers and slipping into default mode of what is expected of me. There is a disconnect from your true north and the things that really matter to you.

When giving becomes a chore, a should, a ‘have to’ , it drains the joy out of giving.   The true spirit of giving comes from a full heart. It’s harder to access that if your feeling tired, drained, and unappreciated. It’s a good time  to take a minute and connect with your heart. Move some energy to recharge and refill your cup so you can enjoy the holidays in a way that feels good to you.  Here’s a quick  way to connect below. (and really a minute does make a difference but you can do it longer if you want )

• Close your eyes, put your hand to your chest.
• Take a deep breath directing the breath to your heart, allow the breath to fill your heart
• On the exhale imagine water washing away all the grit….tension, stress,
• With each inhale imagine love, compassion, peace, energy whatever feels depleted to flow into your heart from the breath and from your hand.
• Each exhale washes away  as above.

Connecting with your heart is a beautiful way to stay grounded in your truth and keep your energy flowing. Hoping you have a joy filled holiday.

We are all vibrational beings, a never ending symphony of movement. Most of which cannot be seen by the naked eye (yet). The tempo of that movement is your vibrational resonance. It’s your own personal unique song permeating your energetic as well as your physical body.

     What you experience in your life is a result of vibrational resonance, the physical evidence of your unique song. This is why your thoughts are such a powerful force. When you tune in to what you want rather that what you don’t want you are effectively choosing what you want to create. Here are a couple quick and effective tuning techniques, I would  love to hear yours.

Affirm – begin with an affirmation that feels like a stretch but is believable to you. Repeat it at least 10 times a day this sets the energy in motion to experience it in your physical reality.

Visualize – use your imagination and vividly imagine what you want to attract, be sure to really tap into the feeling. What does it look like, feel like, taste, how will you be in relationship with this experience. Let this ‘movie’ roll through your head a few times a day.

Breathe – Focus on your breath inhale the feeling of what you desire and exhale any resistance. You would  be surprised how much resistance you may be holding and how your breath will reveal it to you.

Write - write the story of what it is you are creating with you as the main character , write as if it has already occurred , then read it aloud every day for at least 21 days.

Chakra – tap into the energy of your chakras. Identify which chakra the energy of what you desire is located in(visit www.inspiredsoulalliance.comfor more info) and intentionally balance the energy of that chakra each morning and night.

Intention - set an intention to take 1 action daily towards what you want to manifest. Make that action the first thing you do each day.

Talk to yourself - leave messages for yourself, notes, email, text messages and voicemail. Congratulate yourself as if what you desire has already occurred.

     These are a few methods you can use  to move toward vibrational resonance. A minimum of 21 days are needed to affect the neuropathways in the brain to support a new state of vibration. Commit to a practice for at least that long for the highest success. Do you have a favorite technique for tuning your vibrational resonance? I would love hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Stuck in a rut with the same old, same old. The spark and sizzle has fizzled out. Whether it’s your love life or the creative spark your looking for paying some attention to your sacral chakra can put the zing back into your game.

A fun way to get the energy moving is to try some hip swinging, move your hips in a figure 8 pattern starting out slowly and picking up speed. You can add some sass with a snap of the hip or a shrug of the shoulders to boost the energy a little more.

Taking a couple of minutes to swing those hips will stimulate your sacral chakra, where your creativity, sensuality, and pleasure resides, and there’s no telling where that might lead……

Here’s a video to show you how, this ones for you Sarah