The Healing Mindset

"I don't know yet..."

Approaching uncertainty and apprehension with this phrase gives you an advantage.

Why?

Because it leaves you open to discovery.

It doesn't close you off. It leaves you the space and room to grow. To find out what's next. That's what the whole journey is about.

Shadow work, emotional work, nervous system work, identity work. These are four of the core areas that the last slide in this collection identifies as where one must work to get out of survival mode. Survival mode quite literally is an entirely separate identity that you may build when going through a chronically stressful time in your life, a traumatic situation in life, or an abusive relationship.

Signs that you are in survival mode may include:

persistent brain fog

poor sleep

lack of appetite

body aches and pains

nervousness

etc.

Working through each of the above areas while experiencing some of these sensations in your body can be a LOT.

More than likely, these sensations have set in without you even being fully aware of their presence, but you know that SOMETHING is wrong. Survival mode can creep up on us because we think that we are "in control" of mitigating whatever stressful situation has presented itself in our lives. Trauma? Push it away. Bad/toxic/abusive relationship? Keep having the same conversations because surely, "they'll understand this time..." (Hint: They won't). Chronic stress? Numb it away.

Everything is fine... until it's not. All of a sudden, you find yourself constantly on edge. You find yourself doing things that you know are not typical for you in your normal state. Sleeping more than usual or not getting restful sleep. Becoming more angry than necessary at the smallest inconveniences. Forgetting things that you KNOW you have no reason to forget. It's survival mode.

The work to remove yourself from Survival Mode requires persistent effort and dedication. Diligence and discipline.

Getting out of survival mode is not a passive activity. Meditation and breathwork will indeed be part of it, but in addition to that, self-awareness, journaling so that you can remember who you were before the survival mode set in. Journaling so that you can become aware of the ways in which you are showing up daily as you complete your work.

Increasing your overall capacity for life...

There are lots of people in our everyday lives who are in survival mode and don't know it. They especially don't know how to remove themselves from it because it is way more than distraction or numbing.

Betrayal trauma is nothing nice. The entire time, you wanted to convince yourself that something other than what actually was happening was being shown to you. Looking back on it, you realize that not only were you betrayed by them, you also betrayed yourself.

Deep down, you knew what was happening. Your body was giving you the signals. Your mind was constantly monitoring something. But you brushed it off.

You wanted to see the best in the situation. You wanted to give the benefit of the doubt. They had other motivations...

You look back at yourself and say "what was I thinking..."

I get it.

And I know how little it helps now to say "well at least you'll be more aware next time...". But there is truth in that.

As you look back, you are able to recognize when and where you ignored the sensations. The alarms that your mind and body were sounding while you were in their presence. This isn't to say that you must be on guard 100% of the time, but you will be better at recognizing the patterns in the moment.

When something feels abnormal, you can address it at that point. If the same patterns continue, you can bail out much sooner rather than staying and betraying yourself again.

A spiritual rebirth...

These energies come upon us every so often and it can be painful to live through during the time we are being upgraded.

Leaving environments and people better than you found them. Keeping an eye on your energy to make sure you're doing the best you can and knowing when you need a break. Realizing when it's time to abandon a certain path for something more healthy and embodied.

The things that get taken away from us when it is time to progress in life are sometimes the things that we have come to take solace in. Habits, connections, even physical objects. We NEVER want to let these belongings go because they are familiar to us. We've come to build our identity around their presence in our lives.

However, when it's time for us to "level up", the Universe will forcefully remove that which is keeping us stagnant.

Because we're creatures of habit, we fight. We hold on tightly because we want to keep all of what we currently have as life is attempting to show us that there is more for us to have. Better.

Some of it may require work. Some of it may not. But keeping ourselves stagnant just because we are "comfortable" could eventually become the biggest source of discomfort as time progresses.

If you've been disconnected from your body, becoming more embodied can be somewhat stressful or shocking to your system.

Take it a little bit at a time then practice more consistently.

Catching yourself in these moments can be very difficult but it is worth it. Over time, you begin noticing that you speak to yourself in a much more positive tone.

You begin noticing that your inner narrative changes from one of trying to hurt you or force change to gently working with where you are presently to ensure gradual progress.

Let's face it. Life has put us all through the wringer lately. As soon as we make progress in one area, another area causes us problems. Right before the most positive elevation, we experience an upheaval that causes us to lose focus and to be distracted mentally and emotionally.

Listen to yourself. Listen to what comes from within. That's important.

"...your life is taking off." Get ready. You've been doing to work to seal the past where it belongs. In the past. No longer focusing on what went wrong, why it went wrong, what could have been done differently, etc.

"...your life is taking off." Get ready. You've been doing to work to seal the past where it belongs. In the past. No longer focusing on what went wrong, why it went wrong, what could have been done differently, etc.

Life has a way of convincing us that things need to be overly challenging or hectic for them to be worth it. Or, that you must suffer immensely all the time to feel like progress is being made. This couldn't be further from the truth. If you've chosen a simpler and more laid-back route for yourself that works for you, allow that to be what it is.

Don't allow someone else's insecurities concerning your desired goals, and your path to get there, to cloud your own confidence in your ability to move ahead if your journey happens to look different from what they "think" it should look like.

They don't know your why. They don't know your motivation and your drive. Even if you tried to explain it to them, they wouldn't get it. That's okay.