I live in Maine. Around this time of year (late March), people get pretty tired of winter. It is technically spring, but there is still snow (some of it pretty dirty and gross) hanging around. This time of early spring is a strange time in Maine.. the sun is out, but the snow can still come. It can also be a difficult time for many people who feel like they’re “supposed” to feel better now that it’s getting warmer, but they still don’t.
I recently talked to some clients/students and they shared with me that happiness is one of their greatest struggles. Career and money struggles come next, followed by relationships and health. It saddens me that so many are not where they feel they deserve, or want, to be in their lives. Maybe this rings true for you too. If so, much of this, you should know, is not “your fault.” We have been raised in a society that has taught us to distrust our intuition. And it is exactly our intuition that is there to guide us. So what happens when we don’t know how to listen to it? We feel off-balance, disconnected and sad. But it doesn’t need to be like this. There is an energetic shift happening right now, and many people are awakening to their true, divine nature as spiritual beings. And you can too.
One of the easiest ways to come into who you really are is to connect with some teachings (that are designed to trigger the inner wisdom you already have, but may have forgotten) and some exercises designed to re-wire your brain and un-do any programming you’ve undergone in your life (as we all have!). This will help activate your inner essence and integrate it into your everyday “real” world – because it can feel like we live in two different worlds, the spiritual and the everyday. But it doesn’t need to be that way. In fact it shouldn’t be that way.
It can be hard to stay aligned with a high vibration (feeling good!) when life just seems to drag us down. People get irritable with each other – frustrated that things aren’t working out better for them. There’s a sense of injustice with the cold, with the snow, with bleak, rainy days, with being stuck in an unfulfilling job, with living paycheck to paycheck, with the chaos/stress of home life (especially if you have kids, those sweet little monsters), a country that seems (emphasis on the seems) to be going to hell in a handbasket, and just overall feelings of monotony and boredom.
It’s all enough to sink into a bit of a depression, isn’t it?
I’ve battled with this for years. Growing up in Maine, I would dread winters and planned to get the heck out of here as soon as I could after graduating high school (I eventually came back here with glee). Even now, I sometimes struggle with the early darkness and lack of consistent sunlight affecting my wellbeing.
But I have developed some ways to manage this. Here are a few of them:
1) Give thanks for the little things – all day long…
Every morning I think of three specific things that I am grateful for – the sunlight warming my home, my joyful, healthy children, or my loving and endlessly supportive husband are three that come up a lot. This sets the tone for my day and just is a nice way to wake up. I try to make an effort to notice other things that I am grateful for throughout my day too – a kind driver who lets me in the lane, a healthy, organic meal, the chirping of birds in my yard, or a heartfelt hug from my son.
2) Notice what feels good, expansive and light in your chest – and do more of that.
Today my daughter wanted to paint. Normally I would take the opportunity to do some dishes while she was painting. But this time I decided to let the dishes wait and sat down and painted with her. I noticed something happening while I was doing it. I felt a sense of ease, almost like a flow. The broad strokes of the brush moving through my hand, the swirling colors combining on the pink construction paper, and the sense of focus I had. I didn’t want to stop.
There are other things that uplift us.. we just don’t often take the time to notice the feeling (which allows us to raise our vibration and align with other wonderful things out there for us!). Like watching the ducks swim in circles in a pond with the comical quacks and the rippling water, or making dinner for my kids while listening to a really awesome John Mayer song (music literally is a vibrational wave that seeps into our body to uplift our frequency – that must be why I married a musician!).
3) Go to the sun.
Well this is an obvious one. But before you start thinking, she’s talking about taking a vacation to Florida or something and I can’t afford that, pause for a moment. We just went to Costa Rica basically for free (well excluding plane ticket taxes). That’s right, our family of four. I put out the intention to go to Costa Rica a year ago, put it on my vision wall, talked about it, and basically made this vision a part of my unseen, yet desired, reality. it took time to manifest, and I had to do some research, but thanks to my Dad telling me about a great new credit card (which he wouldn’t have if I hadn’t expressed a desire to go to Costa Rica in the first place!), we went on frequent flyer miles, faith and a bit of planning.
Our negative Ego minds are always looking for reasons that we can’t/shouldn’t do something. Let’s stop buying into that! The universe works in magical, mysterious ways. Your desired intentions (through your thoughts and actions) create a frequency more powerful than the world you see with your eyes. It’s about tapping into Divine laws and using your full power as an abundant, spiritual being. Trust me on this one.
4) Focus on your breath and move your body.
Whenever I’m feeling frustrated or down, I know that I need to go lie down and do some “mind-quieting.” Get a nice guided meditation app on your phone (Calm is pretty cool.. and I happen to know of someone who has some on her podcast). You can do this in tiny moments – I like to notice my inhale and exhale while waiting in line at the grocery store, or while lying in bed with my son as he falls asleep. And if there is stuck energy in your body, moving your body through yoga or dance (hot yoga, regular yoga or expressive dance!) is an incredible way to release emotion.
5) Talk to something higher than yourself.
I had to work through a lot of stuff to get to this one. I was raised going to church, but quickly became disillusioned through a negative experience at one. I then became almost an atheist, until a series of experiences of death touching my life changed me. I had felt comforted, over and over, by light, and once by a Divine guide himself. I now have expanded my communication with higher powers to talk to angels (I’m on a big archangel kick right now!), to Jesus (in a Christ consciousness sort of way), and of course always to the spirit guides/guardian angels that I know are always around me. I regularly use number sequences I see to help guide me throughout my day, as well as messages that come in various forms. I even get some requests answered when it suits my highest soul purpose (found objects, parking spaces – I’m not kidding here – and bigger stuff like my living space, my son’s school, etc.). I have learned to give thanks at all times to Divine sources of love, and to surrender to this in my life. I understand that even though I may believe I want something, I need to sometimes let go of it if the request doesn’t suit what’s best for my soul evolution.
So how can you cope with the doldrums that everyday life sometimes brings? It’s just a matter of prioritizing your happiness, taking some time to intentionally direct your energy and soul. There will always be something that seems more pressing to do – so what if you just let that thing rest, even if just for once? I might have never painted and spent time in that joyous space with my daughter otherwise. And I still did the dishes today too.
by Heart Light Digital