Traditional Chinese medicine approaches mental disturbance the same way it approaches disturbance in any of the organ systems: locate the origin of the problem, address the root imbalance, and let it fall away. For example, consider a situation you've been in that you didn't like but couldn't change. Perhaps you resisted it and the resistance became frustration, which then fueled anger. Because you were taught not to express anger, the unexpressed anger produced inner tension, making you feel stuck, a form of depression.
Each energy element can be addressed to enable the brain to return to smooth energy functioning and to synchronize the energies of the left and right brain. Each element has a lower and higher energy function. One keeps us stuck, and one liberates us to higher functioning. When we focus our actions on the superior function, we reinforce the elevated brain functions. This prepares us to match our external actions to our inner blueprint.
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The water energies
If you are constantly in survival mode and feel that fear and self-preservation are controlling your life, your water energies are out of balance. In the same way that water seeks to fill every crevice, fear floods every part of your being.
When I talk about fear at my Fertile Soul retreats, I ask the women to pretend they are surrounded by a pack of hungry tigers. When I ask them what they will do, the usual replies are "Climb a tree" and "Run for my life" The best answer, however, is "Stop pretending." Fast Ways To Conceive
Because most of our fears are unfounded, habitual reactions, the remedy for fear is to see the situation for what it is. Does it actually represent a threat? Sit quietly, evaluate the situation, and shine the light of awareness within to find your courage and strength. Remind yourself of your abilities to take care of yourself, and reach for the unlimited, universal love in your core. By bringing your awareness to the chamber of essence and breathing deeply, you'll not only reduce the output of adrenal hormones that is fueling your panic but you'll access your innate wisdom and begin to heal.
Much of our fear is inspired by worry that we're going to lose something we have (our health, our children, our security) or fail to gain something we want (affluence, a long life, a child) - desire giving rise to trepidation. Another source of worry is the thought that we will be found out - that we've done something terrible that we can't acknowledge ourselves, let alone share with others. Much of our fear, however, is really of our own making. When you look in every nook and cranny, you may find that your secret is really not so terrible.
I was amazed to find that many of my own secrets, which seemed so shameful to me in private, were trivial once they were revealed. Fear is usually more horrifying than the thing that is feared.
The wood energies
When anger and resistance are getting the better of you, you don't have access to the higher mental function of imagination, so you can't match your external actions to your internal blueprint - which is necessary in order to turn your dreams into your new reality. The key to unblocking access to the right hemisphere of your brain, where imagination lives, is to physically release anger and let compassion in by following your angry impulses until you feel some relief. You might hit a pillow. Stomp on the ground. Drive into the country or take a walk by yourself. You might feel like going to a place where you can scream and cry loudly and out of control, until you get all the anger out of your body.
When the fury has gone, look for the place of compassion within, where you find release and forgiveness. Tune in to your higher energy as you breathe into your liver. Smile a cellular smile. Be kind to yourself and let energy flow throughout your entire body. Then release the right side of your brain and let it fulfill its potential. Unleash your creativity and imagination, the inner artist that we all have, so that your actions match the wishes of your heart.
The earth energies
Worry, concern, overthinking, anxiety, and obsessing muck up thought processes and keep us from turning our intentions into actions. When we're so knotted up with worry, it's hard to trust enough to let go. But as you practice letting go, staying open, and expecting things to work out, the world will rearrange to match your outlook.
Start by bringing your awareness to the moment, when you walk, focus your attention on the sensation of your feet meeting the ground. When you prepare dinner, place your awareness in your hands as you chop vegetables, observing, smelling, feeling, and appreciating the plants that are about to nourish you. When you are fully focused on your activity, focus on your sense of being: how it feels to be in your body, how the breeze feels on your skin, how your energy feels inside your tissues, how your inner spaciousness is expanding. Connecting with what you're doing and how you're feeling stimulates the right side of the brain, where creativity and imagination live, and enables you to turn intentions into actions.
To lessen the pressure when you're overly worried and are not yet able to refocus your attention, do something pleasurable like reading a light, fun novel, watching a favorite, funny movie, or looking at a pleasing piece of art or other things of beauty. When possible, avoid noisy filler like television commercials that arc, designed to manipulate people. Fast Ways To Conceive
You can also do something - anything - creative: gardening, cooking, painting, drawing, knitting. Playing with whatever medium you choose is an easy way to align your energy.
The metal energies
The metal energies are associated with the left side of the brain - the orderly, logical, rational control center. While this part of the brain allows you to organize and make sense of your world, trying to control too much will keep you from connecting with the creative side of your being. It will also give you the illusion that you can control the world, which can then lock you into grief, sadness, and eventual depression and collapse when you realize you can't.
Trying to control other people, places, things, or situations is futile - but we can change our attitudes toward those things in order to take control of ourselves and how we feel. This requires relaxing the rigid control of the left side of the brain in order to release, expand, loosen up, break free, open up wide, and shake up your world. To do this, practice doing something silly or out of character for you. Make up a song. Try a new craft or hobby - even if it's something that scares you.
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The fire energies
As you learned, your spirit wants to express itself so that it joyfully flows upward and outward, as is its nature. This happens when your fire energies are unobstructed and unhindered by thoughts of worry, anger, sorrow, and fear. According to neurobiology, humans cannot be simultaneously protective and expansive. When in fight-or-flight mode, overriding concern with self-preservation diminishes your growth and life experience. However, as you practice what you've learned, you allow your heart energies to spiral up and open your fertile soul into its inherent expansive state. As you practice the exercises, you will find the gift of inner stillness where the fountain of love begins to flow. Decide to find this love and uncover the wonders of creation.
To strengthen the fire energies, connect with the beauty of nature: a flower unfolding, a tree reaching its branches toward the sky. Embrace all of creation and meditate on it. Savor life and its design, including your own. Let the love in your own heart grow so that it can open the window in your mind and work in harmony with all of creation. To learn more, you can check out Fast Ways To Conceive.
