This practice can also be used to develop self- awareness and energetic perceptivity. It uses the power that exists in the given moment to fuel the desired state of existence.
If using it to address anxiety, consider a 21 day commitment to yourself. Before starting the chosen number of days, take a few moments to jot down a list of fears, worries, causes of anxiety. It may also be that you cannot identify the “cause” of anxiety. The list may look something like this:
I am nervous that I don’t have enough time or money
That I’m not good enough
That I’m not doing enough
That my kids aren’t doing well in school
That people will think our household is different
That we have too much stuff everywhere and the house is messy
That I don’t know what I’m doing with my life
That I am uncomfortable with my body
That someone is going to die
That I will be alone for the rest of my life
That my dad is not doing well
That our country is getting out of control
That the environment is being destroyed
That we can’t afford to live this way
That the lab text is going to show scary results
I don’t know what is making me nervous
Sometimes we know exactly what is making us nervous, and sometimes we don’t know what is making us nervous. Either way is fine, just write it down. Fold the list and put it away or under a pot in the garden for grounding.
The practice is daily, one or more times per day, and can take a few minutes or longer if you like.
Sit up straight in a chair with relaxed but elongated spine, as if a string is hanging from the sky holding the top of the head up. Soften, relax, and close the eyes gently. Elongate the breath along the spine and feel the breath moving up and down the spine naturally and slowly, without much effort.
- Track
Sense into the body and just around the body (within about 1 inch to 12 inches surrounding the body) the quality of energy. Be sure to physically sense. This gets easier and clearer with practice. What is the current state of the body systems? What does it FEEL like? Is it buzzing? You don’t have to be in an anxious state when you do the practice. It is good to try it in a variety of emotional states. Is it peaceful? Dark? Heavy? Erratic? Excited? Energized? Inspired? Scattered? Dull? Does your state (in this moment of practice) have a color or a mood sensation connected to it? Is it angry? Tight? Light? Squishy? Constricted? Just take a moment or two to sense into what is happening now in your body, and just around your body. Do not try to change it, make sense of it, assess it, judge it, or understand it. Just sense the quality of what it is.
- Drain it or Receive Healing around it.
If there is dense or nervous energy, with eyes still closed, choose a portal in the body through which to drain the energy out. If you notice that in the chest there is less movement with the breath, choose the chest, or heart chakra. Pick any place- any chakra, or you can hold a stone or crystal in one hand and let the energy drain out the hand into the stone or out through the soles of the feet to the ground. If you cannot drain the energy, maybe because it feels too strong, you may just ask for healing and sit quietly. Feel the portal or energy center open, and feel the energy you want drained, leaving the body and field. This may take a minute or a few minutes. Notice when you feel finished. At first if this is confusing or unfamiliar, just imagine draining, a breeze taking it away, or gentle healing energy coming to your body.
- Embody
Once you feel clearing or that a strong difficult energy has been neutralized, breathe in the energy you want to cultivate or become in the particular moment of this practice session. This will change from day to day. Sometimes it will be peaceful, while other days you will want to be confident, glowing, light, free beautiful god or goddess, strong and grounded, body of light and fresh air, flying, loving, connected, graceful, gifted, balanced, whatever imagery you want to become in your life, become it now, in this moment, in your mind and in your body. Embody for 1-3 minutes. Sense peace and smiling in the forehead and mind’s eye.
Practice is complete, and you can take a moment to return to ordinary awareness and activities. After 21 days, you may or may not choose to look back at the list. The most important is to notice if you overall have less anxiety, are able to live more of the time in the state in which you wish to live, and are able to separate yourself from anxiety, and recognize that is a only a passing state, not the totality of your existence.
