Mid-June 2024 Newsletter

Hello, and a more-than-joyful Mid-June to you!
Welcome, or welcome back, to my newsletter. Today's issue is about anxiety, and whether we can change it to a more positive energy. Enjoy!

Many years ago an energy teacher told me that anxiety and excitement are an emotional response to the exact same physical signal, namely a spike of adrenaline. What determines whether you feel alarmed and want to escape, or whether you feel intrigued and want to get closer to the stimulus, lies in how safe you feel. This made so much sense to me, and felt like an aha moment, a foundational piece of learning.

Like the poor guy in the image above, I have often performed as well as I could despite being highly anxious. This includes seeing under difficult or stressful circumstances. The frazzled man trying to give a talk while in an extreme state of stress doesn't feel safe there behind the podium, nor did I usually feel safe looking at my surroundings when I was younger. I expected bad things to happen, like criticism from other people, or some unexpected problem it would be difficult for me to handle.

When I finally understood that it was possible for me to improve my eyesight, at least theoretically since many others had done so, I had to face the fact that I wasn't really comfortable seeing. I felt safer taking a quick mental snapshot of the scene before me, then looking at that in my mind. Continuing to be connected visually to my environment, continuing to look, felt scary and dangerous, like I wasn't in control. I needed to step into the center section of the Comfort Zone diagram, to allow myself to feel awkward and unskilled, in order to make progress.

So let's say my anxiety about using my eyesight, or my hesitation about reaching out into my surroundings in general, is telling me I am withholding or restricting myself. How do I change that? All the vision improvement books and teachers emphasize relaxation, for seeing more easily and clearly, and yes, also to free up the trapped life force which prolonged tension can throttle. Think of a garden hose with a kink in it, the usually gushing flow reduced to a dribble. To let my visual, creative, and social energy flow more freely, the anxious hurrying and worrying had to be reduced or eliminated. This would give me richer clearer eyesight and a more pleasurable life.

Although I understand intellectually that anxiety is trapped energy (as are frustration, worry, and even despair), I've been slower to use this awareness to change my habits, to free up that energy for something more productive. Worry and rushing were unconscious habits for me, my knee-jerk response to most situations whether there was truly a threat or not. I was often deep into those patterns of behavior before I knew it, on automatic pilot to keep acting as if there was a crisis. Even though I grew up in those turbulent exciting hippie times, few people who know me would ever describe me as zen-like or laid back.

Just because I was "a bundle of nerves" in the past doesn't mean I have to stay that way. I've developed skills and honed abilities which I didn't have before. Yesterday I solved a computer problem which normally would have required my engineer partner's intervention. So rather than telling myself "I've always been nearsighted (or tense)", and remaining in that limited state, I'm regularly imagining and visualizing a calmer clear-sighted me. My intention, then my actions, are guiding me steadily in that direction. What small step can you take to grow closer to a goal you've chosen?

To read about anxiety regarding doing everything wrong at a vision workshop, click here.

Upcoming EFT one-day intensive
My skilled insightful EFT teacher Dr. Carol Look is offering a one-day intensive in July, Choose Your Best Belief. I can't recommend Carol's work highly enough. Your beliefs may be holding you back without you realizing it. Say you believe "No one in my family is good with ____". What if that's not true for you? We'll have one activation call to prepare us, a few weeks before the day-long session in July. You can check out more details here.

Have you wondered if my work could help you?
I'm now offering complimentary Discovery Session consultations of 20 minutes or so, for us to discuss what you're looking for in a coach, and to see whether you and I feel like a fit to work together formally. To schedule your Discovery Session, click here.

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Please send me your questions and comments
Let me know what you've wondered about concerning energy medicine or vision or dreams. I'll be glad to write a short article addressing that topic. Thank you to those who have sent me questions, or see a question you asked me in a private session written about here. You're helping many other people! Enjoy the second half of this jam-packed month of June. I'll write again in a few weeks. Take care!