Resilience

 resilience /rĭ-zĭl′yəns/

noun

1. The ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune.
   
2. The act of springing back, rebounding or resiling.

 Last week I received many calls and texts from friends and clients who were having a difficult time recovering from overwhelm. I would put myself in that category, too. For many the varying weather conditions has been exhausting. For others: dealing with the exhaustion of caring for elderly family members, having to make a major life decision, needing to express emotions, recovering slowly from illness. These life events have made resilience challenging.

Flower essences to support resilience:

From Tree Frog Farm - www.treefrogfarm.com

Arnica flower essence for the "shocks' of life that often get trapped in the nervous, muscular and endocrine system. The flower affirmation: 

"I am resilience during life's shocks, bumps and scrapes." 

Ruby Hellebore for resilience of the heart when experiencing sorrow, grief, hopelessness. The flower affirmation:

"I am courage and resilience during times of heartache and hopelessness." 

 

From the Australian Bush Flower Essences - www.southernherb.com

Banksia Robur to enhance recuperation back to vitality and full strength again,
especially for those who are normally very dynamic. The flower affirmation:

"I now feel joy, energy and enthusiasm for life." 

 Macrocarpa for physical strength, endurance and stamina. A wonderful support for the adrenal glands and other endocrine glands. The flower affirmation:

"I am now tapping into the unlimited energy source within me." 

 

The Enneagram and Self-Discovery

30 years ago I was introduced to the ancient psychological system of the nine Enneagram personality types. The information fascinated me along with the concept and the application for self-discovery and awareness. As a Behavioral Kinesiologist, I am always looking for ways to help my clients understand their behaviors, their gifts and talents and innate nature. I am not an expert in the Enneagram, as it is a serious study, but I have used the information especially for myself. I'll give an example.

I am an Enneagram number 1 - The Reformer: principled, purposeful, perfectionist. I have always felt a strong mission to help people especially as it relates to conquering adversity. As you can imagine, I have been challenged with the high standards I have set for myself and I have had to learn balance and letting go of my feelings of fixing everything.

I had a wonderful opportunity to address the continuous releasing of perfectionism and learn from this situation. I ordered my Enneagram number 1 necklace from SoulKu - www.soulku.com - and I had been wearing it every day. I took it off one night and somehow the cord got tangled. Since I make jewelry, I thought I had the tools that could untangle the knot. Not so. I started laughing and realized that I was not supposed to fix the knot. This was a lesson for me. Keep the knot and enjoy the necklace and it's imperfection!

Along with the books below, the best place to learn more about the Enneagram is www.enneagraminstitute.com , founded in 1997 by the late Don Riso and Russ Hudson. 

The Wisdom of the Enneagram - The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth For the Nine Personality Types by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson

Understanding the Enneagram - The Practical Guide To Personality Types by Don Richard Riso

Enneagram Transformations - Releases and Affirmations For Healing Your Personality Type by Don Richard Riso

Personality Types - Using the Enneagram For Self-Discovery by Don Richard Riso

 

Can You Be Impartial?

 As a kinesiologist, I have to be impartial when working with a client. Impartial means that I have to be neutral, unbiased, unprejudiced. This is a difficult job if you are testing yourself or a friend or family member. It took me a year following certification to be able to work with friends and family without any expectation of the outcome of the session. I preferred testing a stranger.

If you are a beginner with muscle testing or still feel that you need more confidence in your ability to be impartial, I offer a few Australian Bush flower essences that might help.

Alpine Mint Bush is a support for any caregiver who is exhausted from the job and needs support. At the same time it is effective when you need to keep your issues separate from the person who you are helping. 

Freshwater Mangrove helps suspend your preconceived ideas
so that you can be open to new perceptions or experiences. 

 

Sturt Desert Rose supports you as you decide what is in your best interest away from bias, pressures and expectations. 

 

 

Yellow Cowslip Orchid allows you the ability to stand aside from emotional issues and assess a situation objectively.

Nhat Hanh Inspiration

 "We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don't allow our bodies to heal, and we don't allow our minds and hearts to heal." ~ Nhat Hanh

 

Pain and Emotion

 As a child, I used to hear:

"Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about." 

So, I sulked for days in my room, feeling very alone with the anger, frustration and upset with no tools for releasing the emotions.

As an adult, I was able to ask my dad about his reaction and why he thought that was going to help the situation. His response was that he didn't know what else to do.

You may have experienced something like that, too, and as a result, learned to repress your emotions and automatically push them away. Your brain may have decided that it was not safe to feel a specific emotion and created a fear response when that emotion comes up.

Emotions can become trapped in the body - anywhere - and the result is often feeling physical pain in your body. One way of identifying what you are feeling is to ask yourself how you feel when you are in pain. You may feel lonely, rejected, guilty, discouraged, etc. The answer to the question may be the discovery of the emotion that has been repressed. 

Some resources that may help with understanding what the pain in your body is telling you:

The Secret Language of Your Body by Inna Segal

Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol K. Truman

Instant Emotional Healing by Peter Lambrou, Ph.D. & George Pratt, Ph.D.

www.curablehealth.com  

The Emotion Code and The Body Code - Dr. Bradley Nelson

www.discoverhealing.com 

 

A Healing Reminder

You have probably experienced a healing challenge at least once in your life. It could have been acute and may still be chronic. Your recovery and healing is unique to you regardless of what traditional or holistic references say. 

The best advice I can give you (and I continually need to hear this for myself) is:

Healing is not a linear process!

Be kind to yourself as you heal physically, mentally, emotionally and/or spiritually. Backslides are normal. Listen to your wise "little voice" that holds many of the answers. Step away from the noise and find a sacred space that allows you to just listen to your Body Wisdom.

 

A Bach flower essence that is helpful during a healing experience when you are feeling discouraged, skeptical and losing faith, is Gentian. One affirmation that I appreciate for this flower essence is:

"I can cope with problems. I am courageous and grow slowly just as nature does."

More Reasons For a Joy Journal

 On May 25th I wrote about starting a Joy Journal and discovering those things that make your heart sing. I want to add another perspective and reason for keeping a journal that documents those moments of delight.

If you have been challenged with health concerns - acute and chronic, long term stress, trauma, unsafe conditions, or more, you may still be experiencing a state of hyper-vigilance - a state of being highly alert to danger or threats.

Joe Dispenza asks:

"If your health goals come true, how would you feel? Can you feel the feeling?"

Hyper-vigilant people often have the hardest time FEELING JOY. When you are able to feel joy you are open, receptive and expansive. In a hyper-vigilant state you will often be closed off ready for the next shoe to drop. It's hard, then, to FEEL your health goals.

As with most challenges, step-by-step allows the learning to be at a pace that feels safe for you. Joy can be experienced by the small things and this still allows the brain to start the rewiring process.

I understand the experience of living through trauma and trying to repair the hyper-vigilant state. I also know it is hard to stay in that place of joy for extended
periods of time. And, I also know how great it is to laugh with the antics of my grandson, to watch the squirrel try to get the bird food, to enjoy my cat purring as she wakes me up in the morning.Those memories and feelings stay with me.

Something more to consider: