Have you ever said, “It never rains, it pours?” Well, for empaths, 2020 has been a tsunami of emotional overload. And 2021 so far has shown no sign of slowing down the pouring. With so much attention being paid to physical health during this pandemic, we are forgetting the enormous contribution of emotional and mental health to physical health.
Included in this forgetfulness is the power of the mind over the body. Here is a description of a fascinating experiment that graphically illustrates this power.
In a Japanese study described in a 1998 New York Times article called, Placebos Prove So Powerful Even Experts are Surprised, by S. Blakeslee demonstrates the power of the mind and belief. 13 students were blindfolded and told their right arms were being rubbed with poison ivy. It was actually a harmless shrub, but all 13 students exhibited poison ivy symptoms on that arm. Then they were told that their left arms were being rubbed by a harmless plant. It was actually poison ivy and only 2 of the 13 broke out in any symptoms.
Here is a link to the article:
http://people.kzoo.edu/barth/math105/PlacebosNYTimes.pdf
As scientists focus attention on the biological effects of how thoughts, beliefs and emotions can affect the chemistry within the body’s cells, we are given some insight.
Human perception has two parts. The first involves the process of gathering information through the five senses. The second part is the interpretation of that information. Previous experience is one of these interpretation pathways the brain takes to create change in the physiological state.
That is, if you expect something to happen, it likely will.
In many of our Sound Wellness programs we share how to work with the mind/brain’s ability to choose interpretations. We call this Perceptual Intelligence.
Last July I wrote a blog called Empathic Overload. Here is a link to that article:
https://soundwellness.com/empathic-overload/
In that blog I stated, “On those days when I contemplate how to move forward, I found three things that have been nudging their way into my awareness.”
Are we moving forward ten months later? Most days it does not feel like moving forward at all. After some contemplation, though, I received some insight.
Here are the ‘three things’ I shared in the July blog and a few insights from today:
1. Root Chakra Upheaval
From July’s blog:
“Our individual and collective root chakra are being dissolved. They are undergoing a complete recalibration. Just like the caterpillar turns into caterpillar soup before it begins to transmute into a butterfly, our collective root chakras are transmuting into something different.
We’re still in the ‘soup’ stage with occasional glimpses of what might be a next step forward. The root chakra represents our connection to life itself and to our ability to thrive. Here we connect with our physical bodies and to the earth as our source of groundedness.”
Today’s contemplation: The polarization we have collectively been experiencing seems to have evolved into a couple of main ‘narratives’ or ‘stories’.
- One narrative is powerfully grounded in Fear. The result is that fear stifles and blocks the root chakra, which represents our sense of safety and security.
My contemplation led me to a fascinating positive side of this challenge. Ungrounding the root chakra and placing it in turmoil for so long creates a couple of possibilities.
The first is that the helplessness and hopelessness meaninglessness generated by overwhelming fear takes us into the ‘dark’ side of survival. That is, it can stimulate a Dark Night of the Soul. This is where we question everything, looking for meaning.
The second possibility led to questioning where else can we ground the root chakra? We are multi-dimensional beings. We have a soul that does not exist on just the physical plane.
The soul is eternal, learning, and evolving. What would it feel like to ground the root chakra into the soul?
To claim your reality as a multidimensional being. That is grounded in the soul and compassion. What would security and safety look like here?
- Another ‘narrative’ emerging is anger in response to the fear narrative. Some of this is based in freedom and human rights. However, anger still keeps you in the same place in the brain and same physiological response as fear.
In the energetic world, these two narratives have created massive thought forms – fear and anger at war with each other. Here is a helpful description of the energy of a thought form.
“When millions of people focus their attention upon listening to the same words, seeing the same pictures, and hearing the same descriptions, tremendous energy is generated and a massive thought-form is created. Thought-forms are vibrational blueprints that hold instructions for manifesting reality.” (p. 31, “Path of Empowerment” by Barbara Marciniak
What would a 3rd thought-form look like? One that is grounded in the soul?
These questions led us to the second thing from July’s blog.
2. Feeling Our Connectedness
From July’s blog: “Our entire human family has always been connected. What is different now is that we are becoming more aware of our connectedness. “
For empaths, that means that many of us are feeling the turmoil of the entire human family. That is a lot to process through a human nervous system. Over the last three months, I feel as if I have been constantly processing emotional energy. Some of it is mine. Some of it is not.
For me, it has meant being gentle with myself and taking the time to rest and recharge.
3. Essential Self-Care
The more self-care tools you have at your disposal, the better. Please check the July blog for some of my favorites: https://soundwellness.com/empathic-overload/
Here is an exercise to integrate the mind/body connection to support your wellbeing.
Exercise: Abundance of Health
- Is there a specific aspect of your physical wellbeing that you wish to support?
- Write it down as a gratitude statement.; for me – I am grateful for my lymph system and its consistent and efficient flow.
- Set your timer on your phone for regular intervals throughout the day. (every hour…)
- When your timer beeps
- bring your awareness into your heart
- feel gratitude in your heart
- say or think your gratitude statement
- Decide how long you wish to explore this practice – 1 week? 1 month? 6 months?
- Record your results.
A final contemplation:
As we continue to navigate this uncharted territory of evolutionary growth, consider using the mind/brain’s power of expectation. Remember – if you expect something to happen, it likely will.
Expect opportunities.
Expect synchronicities.
Expect miracles.
In Health and Harmony,
