I'm in the process of planning a Flow with the Yoga of Emotional Freedom workshop for this Saturday (can you meet me in NY for some fun stuff? :) The content is specific to folks who want to connect their yoga mat work to the bigger picture of their feelings and the emotional flows that go with them.
Even as I plan something local, I've been avidly observing the global experience of the Occupy movement starting with Wall Street. I got to recognizing how many of us are starting to pop out of the numbness that our social - economic - political situation has engendered, and we're finding a voice for what ails us.
Whether you're active with the Occupy movement in person, sharing news posts, considering issues that will be coming to a vote, or taking private new steps with life challenges, it is truly empowering to consider current events - as with all events - through the lens of the energetic body system.
Principle centered and practical, one of the first tenets we work with is "as within, so too without."
So let's start with what's going on within.
Have you read the statistics about depression lately??
At least 1 in 10 adults in the US suffers from it says the Centers for Disease Control in their 2011 report - and another 1 in 10 from anxiety. Meanwhile 54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness. That just makes it worse, don't you think?
And check this out - as far back at 2002, the economic burden of mental illness (defined as sustained abnormal alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior associated with distress and impaired functioning) in the United States was substantial—about $300 billion in 2002, with a prediction that nearly 50% of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime.
As for the rest of us, according to the World Health Organization, mental illness results in more disability in developed countries than any other group of illnesses, including cancer and heart disease.
Yikes!
The destructive effects of mental illnesses include disruptions of daily function, incapacitating personal, social, and occupational impairment, and premature death. The most common mental illnesses in adults are anxiety and mood disorders.
Well that's sobering, isn't it?
Does that add up to a healthy situation for any of us?
Movement is happening though, and I see the possibility of tremendously positive outcomes. Energy anatomy follows a specific pathway. Watch for yourself and see if you start to notice more and more people changing from the 2nd chakra frame of reference so many have been in (one in which we have gotten sooo tired of caring about things we feel powerless to change that we sink into a general state of apathy) into 5th chakra territory where we collectively learn to find our voice.
The voice itself can be an angry one, but by no means does it need to be. The movement of lifeforce energy expresses through a systematic framework that is predictable if it is allowed to flow. With conscious attention to the 5th chakra of the voice, and to the emotion of anger itself, we can translates that impulse into strong boundaries and the knowledge that "where there's a will there's a way."
This is exactly how, and why, peaceful demonstration works - the kind that was intended by Occupy Wall Street from the start. The more we demonstrate our will to find a way - whatever the way might be - the more energy we are able to access for movement and change.
More energy = more life force and less depression.
The list of nuts and bolts and details of what that looks like isn't here yet. The fact is, there is no specific need to know - nor should there be. That will result from the experience itself and will be discerned as time goes on.
This is good news for everybody, no matter which side of the issue you're on at the moment.
Finding a voice requires upward movement in the energy body, from becoming conscious of having a choice in the first place at the first chakra level, to discovering the power of oneness at the seventh. Onward we go through chakras 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 - ideally arriving at the sacred gift of the seventh as we grapple with the issues each represents along the way.
No matter who we are and what the issue, the flow that moves through the emotions is a sequence that goes something like this ...
Chakra 1 - Belief. What do I believe? Am I strong? Helpless? Supported? Do I feel capable? Do I have a choice?
Chakra 2 - Relating. How can I care properly for myself and those I love? Does my caring matter? Am I burned out from relating to situations with no hope of an honest return and therefore succumb to apathy?
Chakra 3 - Self Knowledge. What do I need to let go of?
(You'll notice with the Occupy Movement that one of the things we hear about is the need to let go of is shame - shame of failure - shame at being one of the 99% - shame in the feeling that there is nothing you can do against the Goliath of corporate greed.) This is classic 3rd chakra territory, and the antidote is nothing less than self-empowerment.
Chakra 4 - Faith. Exploring the heart of the matter. We move from fear to a faith in something different.
Chakra 5 - Will. Finding our voice, creating stronger boundaries, accessing our willpower, and aligning our will to a higher purpose.
(I believe this is where the general movement of the group consciousness is at the moment. We aren't sure yet what that looks like exactly. The time for specifics - for knowledge and thought comes after a strong heart and a willingness to act in the direction of something greater.)
Chakra 6 - Insight, plain and simple. Where are we going? What new processes are being created? What's our guiding light? Now is the time that successful plans are made, after the inspirations of heart and voice and action...
Last - and by no means least -
Chakra 7 - Grace. We are open to the inspiration of light and love in whatever way is "the best possible result for all concerned."
Just to note - no matter what your preference is on the different variations of the American Pledge of Allegiance (see Wikipedia) they do each end with the words "with liberty, and justice for all."
all concerned.
all.
Apparently there's been a bit of a disagreement on what that looks like....
So what have we here?
Nothing short of the impulse to move - not just our own consciousness, but the consciousness of an entire culture from disenfranchised to hopeful, active and connected, with the 7th chakra's "best possible result for all concerned" as the guiding light running the show - if we allow it, for it needs our permission in order to succeed.
The process of life engagement that moves through this built in mechanism called energy anatomy is a natural consequence of living, and noone is exempt. One can simply allow, or disallow, the flow. We each have the ability to move through our very own specific energetic system, and somehow, without even having to understand, when the energy is moving freely it will feel right.
As far as Occupiers are concerned, although many are calling to them for a coherent statement of purpose, seeing through the vantage point of the energetic body we can answer the question "what do they want" very clearly.
It is not just a thing, or an idea, or dollars and cents, which is a bit like putting the cart before the horse.
What "they want" - what we all want - is a way of being that exudes new possibilities.
What is wanted is an experience.
Now depending on your circumstances and where your thoughts about Occupy are concerned, this is either good news or bad news :)
If things have been looking honkey-dory for you and you didn't see that strife was happening all around you, then this kind of movement might not be such good news. But if you have noticed - if you've seen that change was needed - was required - then this is your lucky day.
Either way, just keep the highest principles of the best result for all concerned in the forefront of your mind while we get there.
Now I offer to you my own heartfelt best - If you are a leader, a mover, a shaker, a teacher, an influencer of others and you want to experience the practical and powerful framework of Fundamentals of Emotional Freedom in person with me, I invite you to look into the 6-month Yokibics Deep Dive Program in both New York and Pennsylvania beginning this November. These are exciting times and this is incredibly inspiring work.
Until then -
Blessings and namaste,
Gael
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