A repost from February 2021:
Solo backpacking trips in Colorado taught me a lot about Nature and fear.
Living in the woods for the last 6 years has taught me so much and being isolated alone much of this past year has revealed even more.
Looking black bears and foxes, raccoons, deer, and possums in the eye has taught me everything about anxiety.
Seeing up close that death and decay and cycling seasons are inescapable has taught me to allow all the things.
At the heart I always circle back to Buddhism and Existential philosophies. They remind me that awareness of impermanence and the anxiety of trying to avoid death make up the bulk of our lives.
The animals display that survival anxiety. Eating quickly, restlessly looking around, scrapping and pushing over who eats first and how much. Avoiding being killed while killing. Survival is achieved by anxious alertness.
We do this 24/7 also because we still have the part of us programmed to stay alive by scanning constantly to detect threats of harm/death.
When we're not comfortable with being uncomfortable life is harder because of this.
When we try to make anxiety go away and refuse to face death we waste energy and amplify angst.
When we wait for everything to be perfect before we take a risk we never grow.
When we compare and judge ourselves by watching others we crush our creative capacities.
We do all that nonsense because we want to be safe.
The Spleen Center in Human Design holds all these animal anxieties all humans carry. We learn about them in order to understand ourselves and challenge these fears that try to keep us alive through mental limitations.
We befriend anxiety and recognize that every change we make is going to set off alarm bells and freak outs in our minds.
It's ok. We don't have to be afraid of our fear or our ancient patterns. Trying to find a way to avoid fear and anxiety is pointless and frustrating and unattainable.
What to do?
Start by understanding that the natural world has in it violence and anxiety. Beings eat and are eaten. Fear and avoiding dying are normal and natural for this physical existence. Embracing that knowledge helps you stop trying to stop what can't be stopped.
Next train your nervous system to hold steady when buffeted by winds of anxious energy.
Let yourself feel the agitation without trying to change it or make it go away.
Ask that energy how it wants to move right now.
Does that electrical zing need to dance?
Is it trying to give you a message?
Ask your Authority is this something I need to explore or is this just normal Spleen fear?
What did I just think or hear or see that made me feel threatened?
Is this my fear or someone else's and ultimately the source doesn't matter because you can learn to let it flow on through.
Am I willing to be conscious of my anxiety and fear?
Can I learn to love these ancient and vital processes?
Any action tthat strengthens the vagus nerve helps. Google or YouTube it, there are several quick methods.
Getting to know your Human Design helps enormously. Foundation sessions come with coaching tailored to you and often that's enough to get you going.
Ultimately learning to accept the reality of our emotions and train ourselves to feel them sets us free to enjoy all aspects of our lives.
planethumandesign.com
XO,
LMW
Previously published:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/xcTzbwYxmnWcCg4G/?mibextid=oFDknk