CHANGING PATTERNS & CHANGING OUR MINDS

If there’s one thing that 2020 has forced us all to do, it’s CHANGE. Practically overnight, the entire world shifted from rushing around and DOING, towards a state of stillness and BEING. As a result, we have all been forced to adapt the ways that we normally moved about our daily lives. 

We’ll be the first ones to admit that change is difficult and scary. In fact, it’s absolutely normal for us to feel anxious, angry, or scared - these evolutionary instincts were designed to help keep us alive. But nowadays, we don’t just feel anxious or scared when we hear a noise in the night - these emotions pop up whenever our sense of safety or connection feels threatened (whether that be when we lose our job or a love one, or just driving on the freeway). One detour or obstacle and our cortisol is surging. We get swept up in that oh-so-familiar worry and stress. 

Now THIS is where meditation and mindfulness practices can come to the rescue. They teach us how to change the way we interact with our ever-changing and often unpredictable world. 

When our primal fears and habits of mind arise, instead of reacting to them - we can simply watch. By creating space and taking a sacred pause, we give ourselves the freedom to RESPOND rather than REACT. 

In meditation and mindfulness practice, we sit and witness our thoughts and feelings without judging them, identifying with them, or immediately acting on them, and in exchange, we present ourselves with the opportunity to respond differently than we normally would. 

We breathe through our discomforts and develop a sense of safety within ourselves (or amongst a supportive community of people that we can trust), before we proceed. Then, after the danger has been assessed, we can take the best step forward. And the more we do this, the better we get at it! Believe it or not, the ancient pathways and patterns in our brains actually begin to transform. 

The next time a challenging situation arises, our nervous system remembers that we’ve been here before.

We remember that even though our outer experience is always changing, for better or worse, our inner experience can change too.

And in our opinion, that makes all the difference. 

Come change your mind with us ~