In today’s world, we are exposed to more stimulation and mental input than our systems are designed to handle. Between social media and the constant news stream of suffering and turmoil, it can feel confusing to know where to place our attention. It’s especially difficult for people who want to help but end up feeling helpless. 

Reminders of the pandemic, environmental emergencies, politics, and devastating world events pile on to our generally full and busy lives –  it’s no wonder so many of us are struggling with anxiety and overwhelm! Fight – Flight – Freeze seems to be on all the time and it’s accompanied by an autopilot stream of chattering thoughts and ideas limited to searching for potential threats. 

None of this is going away any time soon, so we need to learn strategies that will help us become more resilient and able to manage our inner lives without bypassing what is going on in the world. One way to help manage the inner anxiety loop is to learn how to experience a sense of inner peace, groundedness, and calm. You can learn how to reclaim your mental spaciousness by quieting the “monkey mind!” 

But in a world that not only overstimulates us, but that often encourages us to rely primarily on our minds over our other senses and ways of knowing, it can often feel impossible to reach a state of true inner calm and peacefulness – especially when challenges are beckoning for solutions. That said, we all need to take breaks to put our oxygen masks on in order to manage at the very least. 

In order to relieve the stress of your daily life by keeping a calm mind, you can learn practices that help you come back to your center and release your unwanted thoughts when they feel like they’re running the show. 

Why is it important to have a calm mind? 

Can We Ever Heal From Childhood Abuse?

If you had an abusive childhood, will you always suffer from it? This is the question that Andrea asked me about:

“I had a terrifying childhood. I have had counseling, motion light therapy, and been hypnotized, and they have done wonders for me, yet I still long for completion in my mind over these things. My question is – is there ever an end to your struggle in dealing with such things?”

The answer is Yes, You Can Heal, But There are Challenges…

Major healing occurs when you practice Inner Bonding and learn to give yourself the love you didn’t receive as a child. You need to learn to be the loving inner parent that your inner child needs. This is what will create the inner safety and self-worth that are necessary for healing.

The Clash Between Truth And Reality

"When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily."

Every person wakes up in the morning to join the struggle between truth and reality. Yet almost no one realizes that this is what they are doing. Life contains struggles—no one disagrees with that sad fact—but what are we struggling against? The answers seem obvious. We struggle to stay healthy, make a living, maintain our relationships, and in general to keep our heads above water.

Where does truth enter into this? Imagine someone sitting in a chair wearing state-of-the-art virtual reality gear. In the simulation bombarding his senses, he is racing in the Indy 500, running away from tigers in the jungle, or walking a tightrope. These are perilous adventures that he is immersed in, where survival itself is at stake. His body will exhibit all the signs of a stress response. But his experience is entirely fake, a construct by clever VR engineers. The truth is that he is sitting still in a chair, perfectly safe and sheltered from struggle.

Suffering is caused by the story you make up about your reality.

What stories are you making up about yourself, your life and those around you?

What impact are they having?

It’s not what happens to you but how you interpret and what you make things mean that causes you suffering.

Suffering is not a requirement.

Pain is inevitable and suffering is optional.

You choose.

We sometimes become addicted to suffering as a false way to feel alive, and struggle becomes the drug of choice that we use for a cheap high.