dive into your subconscious to stop anxiety
Updated: Sep 18, 2022
THE PULSE: A Personal Note from Robyn
It is with a heavy heart that I write this introduction to The Weekly. On July 4, tragedy struck my hometown of Highland Park, Il. A parade that I have attended for many of my 47 years on this Earth, was attacked. My husband missed the shooting by minutes. Friends ran for their lives. Members of my small community were murdered and wounded. A member of my congregation who was instrumental in coordinating my daughter's bat mitzvah was killed.
I am heartbroken. I am devastated. I am also alive. My closest family and friends are alive. We are fortunate to be alive. I am choosing love. I am choosing light. I am choosing gratitude. I know with every fiber of my being that we must use this horrific act and create change. We as a community are forever changed.
Highland Park goes on a growing list of communities terrorized by gun violence. At the moment, I don’t know how to create the change needed to prevent more of these tragedies, but I know the answers will come in the coming days and months. They must. For now, I will continue to put one foot in front of the other and move forward with love and light, because I can.
It is no coincidence that our podcast this week is with Karen Armstrong, who’s work with stress and anxiety is tremendously important in today’s world. Listen now.
THE PODCAST: Tour Guide of the Subconscious
Are you living your life in a constant state of stress, anxiety and self-doubt? Have you tried everything to change your life, but nothing has worked? Meet Karen Armstrong, Mindset + Emotion Life Coach of Find Peace Now. Karen says, “You can't change what you're not aware of, unless you remove the root cause.” Karen’s life’s work is to help others identify and remove the root causes of what has been draining their energy and holding them back. Therefore, they can experience permanent change and find peace now. You have to dig into that subconscious and unconscious part of your mind. Karen is your tour guide. We have had lengthy conversations with Karen and are so impressed with her process, approach, training and abilities -- not to mention her passion and commitment to help people heal and live their most peaceful and fulfilling lives. Our conversation, which was taped last week, ended up being extremely timely (no surprise Universe!). It is packed with aha! Moments. Listen to the full podcast. Here are a few highlights. Let's start at the very
beginning Karen. You call yourself a “mindset and emotional life coach.” What is that exactly? Karen Armstrong: I get asked that a lot! The coaching that I do with my clients is very unique. It's truly the knowledge and wisdom from my life experiences and other modalities that work with the subconscious. In life, everybody suffers. Whether it's relationship problems, lack of confidence in their career, body image or weight issues, money issues. There's all different things that people are suffering with, but they don't realize what the root cause is. It all begins in the mi
nd. What is going wrong in life is a reaction to emotion. Emotion is the only problem that a person ever really has. So, it's really helping people understand how their minds and emotions work. Self-knowledge is self-power. And you truly do have all your answers inside of you. But when you're in the stress response, when your thoughts create the fear in your life, the anxiety, the anger, all those negative emotions that drive your body into that fight flight free state that you can't think clearly, you're not able to identify what you really need to do to take the action you really need to take, to get where you wanna go. So how does your approach differ from that of a traditional therapist or a life coach? Karen Armstrong: You need to identify what's at the root of a problem and remove it in order to get permanent results. And generally, what is presented as a problem, it's not obvious what's causing it. So when clients come in and work with me, the very first thing that we do is increase the awareness of their thoughts. So emotion is driving t
hem to do things they don't wanna do or holding them back from doing the things they want to do, but they don't understand what causes that emotion or even realize what emotions they are feeling. And that is their thoughts. So once you understand that, you're now beginning to understand how to permanently correct your life. So the first thing I get them to do is to raise the awareness of what they're thinking, because what they're thinking creates how they feel, how they feel impacts what they do, and what they're doing is their life. We know that thoughts impact our emotions, but we certainly aren’t taught to really look at the roots of our thoughts. How does this help us change our behaviors and outcomes?
Karen Armstrong: We, on average, as humans, have between 50,000 and 70,000 thoughts a day, and most people are aware of a tiny fraction of them. 90% to 95% of what we think is at a subconscious unconscious level. So if your thoughts create how you feel, and how you feel impacts what you do, and what you do is your life, and you're not aware of what you're thinking, how are you going to gain that control over your life? So when you raise your awareness of what you're thinking, you're going to have more indication of what's going on and you track it. So now you're actually understanding everything that's going on in your life. Karen, thank you for all you are doing to positively impact the lives of so many! For more about Karen Armstrong, or to learn about her mindset and emotional life coach practice visit findpeacenow.com. Karen offers a free introductory call for anyone interested in potentially working with her. Listen to the full podcast.
SECRET POWER: A 3-step Reset For an Anxiety
You know that feeling…it’s that moment that your heart starts racing and your mind takes off right along with it. You know th
is is a mind-body reaction, but what can you do in the moment to stop it in its tracks?
According to Karen Armstrong, this the perfect opportunity to understand the “fight, flight and freeze” syndrome and use breath as an unconscious messenger to the nervous system.
STEP ONE: Recognize and Accept
A lot of times when anxiety flares up, people are like, “no, no, no, no, no I'm being anxious!” And now they're creating more anxiety. The first thing you want to do is just accept it. Verbally or mentally recognize the feeling. “Okay. I'm feeling anxious.” And that alone will bring the anxiety down a notch.
STEP TWO: Breathe.
Breathing is an unconscious message to the nervous system. So if there's a bear in front of you, there's no way you're gonna be able to breathe nice and slow and deep. When you breathe nice and slow and deep you're unconsciously telling your nervous system everything's okay. It's effective. It's efficient. After that, you're going to start calming down.
STEP THREE: Reset.
Now you can actually start thinking clearly. You're probably not catastrophizing or focusing on the negative aspects any longer. You can pull back and ask, “OK, what else is true?” Then you're going to be able to invite that logic in and calm your subconscious mind.
Ahhhh….Give it a try, and let us know if it works for you.
THE DOWNLOAD:
In light of all of what’s happened in the world this week, it is again, challenging to disconnect ourselves to open up the channels for those messages for our highest good. But it is also, indeed, the most important time for those messages.
Due to the timeliness of the July 4 shootings in Chicago that took place in Robyn’s home neighborhood, we both felt important to ask for the meaning of the impact so that we could share with you in a broader, seeker way.
And it is again, in the asking where the answers come. We are both so grateful and inspired how our Spirit Team never fails to bring us these universal messages, right when we need them the very most.
KAREN'S DOWNLOAD: Pulling out the roots of fear to let love in.
Asking for clarity this week for what is at the root cause for the world’s non-sensical tragedies - how do we see beyond this?. What is the message for our highest good?
Meditation began with me finding myself in a giant ancient church of some kind - maybe a mosque or old cathedral - but it was full of worshippers of all ages and nationalities. A mom sitting comfortably on the tile floor on a blanket with her little ones. An older couple sitting hand in hand. A single woman, clinging to a rosary. They were there to find comfort. They were there equally searching for this clarity of where they fit
into their own lives….at this space in time. I feel like I was tapping into a global prayer.
Non-sensical - the word jumps back. Not making sense. Not able to be able to be understood by the senses. Beyond human comprehension.
Yes. That is the right definition of these tragedies. And sometimes, it is the only way to put such things into any context at all.
The feeling of unity comes back, feeling into the people in the congregation. How even in their different stories, their different longing for meaning - they are united in their humanness of wanting to know why.
So, why??? I ask for some higher insight to help me break through the numbing shock of how brutal the world can be.
There is no way to explain in human terms the why of how tragedy strikes on this planet. It is part of the agreement that we make when we make the decision to come to earth to immerse ourselves in this human experience.
But this appearance of tragic circumstances are never random. They are part of the human symphony of shifting energy - of galvanizing the sword of preference in understanding good and evil or better said, the differences between love and fear.
While it may not happen directly to you, you are being shown it, to feel it, to amplify your empathy. Can you see the good and the evil in it? Can you see the heightened love through the heightened fear? Every person will see
what unfolds in a slightly different way. Which is precisely the intention. So they can decide for themselves what kind of imprint it leaves on their souls.
If you can, try to step back away from the lens of judgment. Exhale into the emotions that you may feel. The judgment that you have about all of those impacted and involved. As if it is a movie playing out. What is the story? What is the universe collectively trying to tell you?
It is time for a new age. A new set of “laws” and preferences. It is a time to honor the collective weight of love and to infuse that with energy. At the root of all things that appear evil is when fear seeps in and toxifies our emotions. Know that the real truth for you and for all is not on what is seen, but the invisible energy that is provoking you. Look within. Go deep to feel out any roots within you that are dark and gently pull them out. Redirect that void and fill it with love. Shine the light everywhere. And then look out again at what you see. You will feel a greater love and tender empathy for everything that you see. AND THAT WILL CHANGE IT!
Your work is only to be the best soul you can be. To elevate yourself from fear and judgment and sadness, back as high as you can towards love and lack of judgment to joy. If you can bring yourself there, you are part of the solution. You are part of the collective love that will help bring the shift to yourself and the planet.
ROBYN'S DOWNLOAD: You Are Meant to Be Here Now
Breathe.
You must take a deep breathe.
Remember that you have life and are meant to be here right now.
You have much to do to keep the light shining and hope alive. We must keep shining our light br
ight and not allow the dark to prevail. Love is light. Feel the beat of your heart to remind you of the life and love that run through you and that you can spread to others. It is your job to spread that love and light to others especially when they need it most.
We must find forgiveness. We must find hope. We must find love in order to live the lives we are meant to live. Use your love and light to make positive change in the lives of those around you, your community, your state, your country.
Give yourself time to grieve and to process and gather the life and the light to LIVE with love and move forward with love. Create the army of love — and make that choice instead of choosing fear. We’ve talked about this before, we always have the option, love or fear. Choose love. Give love. Receive love. Feel love.
Our hearts hurt, but they still beat, they still give love. We send everyone touched by this tragedy love. There are no words, you must allow yourself to be.
Acknowledge the beau
ty and awesomeness of your life right now. Appreciate every moment. Always choose love over fear. You are loved and you can love in return. Have compassion for all.
SEEKING CENTER PODCAST SCHEDULE
JUNE 14: Diving into the Subconscious Mind
JUNE 21: Death Walkers, Walk-Ins, Fusions and Parallel Timelines
JUNE 28: Anxiety Game Changers: Simple Healthy Habits to Manage Real Life
JULY 6: Tour Guide for the Subconscious
WE WANT TO BE FRIENDS
We want to hear from you.
Are you at a crossroads in your life? Are you seeking guidance? What do you want to hear about? What practices have you tried? Do you have a healer or practitioner or spiritual modality that we need to know about?
Email us: connect@seekingcenter.app
And follow us on instagram at @seekingcenterofficial.
