
Unlocking Stagnation
by Sarah Ripper
Feeling in resistance, stuck, or like nothing is really changing? How can we take new actions, even at very subtle levels, to invite shifts into our lives? Here are a few simple physical, mental, emotional, and energetic approaches to try.
Transcript
Unlocking stagnancy.
So we all know what it feels like to feel stuck or bogged down whether it's a project not moving forward or we feel like we're hitting our head against a wall and getting the same results could be in any area of our lives.
So just exploring some ways that we could work with how stagnancy might be showing up for us and providing an opportunity to reframe how we see it and maybe seeing some pathways forward.
So like a river that's got boulders in the way and the water's not flowing and then the water's building up with murky mud because it's just sitting there and then accumulating maybe mosquitoes who knows what else it's accumulating but how can we get these boulders out of the way or increase the flow of water so that naturally the boulders or the rocks pull to the side using the power of the water that's coming up gradually and consistently.
So we're working really with the law of correspondence or the law of karma action and reaction and often we think about karma in terms of physical action things that are really overt like oh that person did a really bad thing or that person helped at that charity and fed the homeless whatever it is yes absolutely that is a form of physical manifestation of karma.
However it's also working on other levels mentally emotionally and energetically as well as more subtle physical actions.
Mentally in that we have so many thoughts every day and many of which are unregulated so there's one opportunity to remove that stagnancy by practicing awareness,
Observing what are the thoughts that I'm having,
What might be the implications of those thoughts on a physical micro level but also on a macro level if we think that other humans are potentially doing similar things at the same time and it's going into this big stirring pot of the planet.
So mentally observing and observing from the space of the observer so there's a thought what's my response to the thought does the thought emerge because of a stimulus do I have a default reaction to that stimulus if I do cool there's an opportunity to look at that and address that pattern use my tools and ultimately see that I could have a response rather than a reaction and have power over that from the soul self not from the default mechanisms of the mental faculty so how can I upgrade my mental faculty and I think this is the power of a lot of practices using prayer and mantra have is that they're engaging the mental plane cultivating discipline tuning into higher frequencies and purifying the mental body because we don't just have a physical body and then an energy body we have many energy bodies with different functions so how can you work with your mental body to remove stagnation because it's all interrelated so is it sticking to your word making a commitment and observing and being accountable and sticking to your word to yourself so it doesn't have to be a big huge thing or could it be prolonging your concentration on a certain task a hobby task a work task reading inquiry how can you exercise the muscle of the mental body similarly the emotional so we're talking about having reactions when you're the observer and observing what are my emotional reactions am I slipping into a default could I call upon my tools and techniques to transmit that could I practice processes that activate higher aspects of me the heart space could I use tools and techniques like music dance exercise or smiling when I'm on the verge of I could react negatively but I'm also not fully there yet and I could also shrug this off that's the time to make a different physical choice to alter the physiology and therefore the emotional response like smiling smiling even if we're just walking around the house that emits not only emotional and energetic but a physiological adjustment in the system so all these little tweaks are really valuable doing acts of service it can be as simple if you restricted in your physical movement it could be sharing a uplifting song or video or an insightful piece of a book or a meditation or a spiritual teaching with someone calling someone you know would really love to talk to another human funny another way a resourceful way of of being a service whether that's in your time or your money your resources in another way because so often it's like when we feel the stuckness or the stagnation it becomes front of mind it becomes somewhat of an obsession it's like saying don't think about a donkey don't think about a donkey don't think about a donkey and what are we thinking about the donkey so how can we shift our focus and attention on to unlocking stagnation making a different choice in other areas of our faculties so that we're having shifts there so that we're increasing the water flow in the river around the boulder another thing is to be in the question so instead of I don't know this isn't working when we do that we put the blinkers on like a horse blinkers and we restrict what we're allowing ourselves to receive what insights were allowing ourselves to receive so flip it instead of I don't know turn it into a question how could I know what could I learn who could I connect with another question is why am I and then insert what you're wanting to cultivate so why am I so amazing at my job why am I so radiantly fit and healthy and full of beans and being in the question and allowing those little tidbits of insights to emerge that will guide us to what it will take to get there without attachment to when it's not gonna happen or how it should happen or what it should look like in the very precise ways that our minds may imagine it but in a way that promotes progress and unlocks us of course another way is journaling you might want to journal with a non-dominant hand and without editing yourself I think so often the mind edits before we've really even allowed information to flow so allowing that to come out of you and another one for talking about energetically so we've talked about opportunities to be of service physically mentally we can be of service and mentally emotionally and energetically we can be of service by allowing ourselves to be instruments of peace and blessing so practicing meditations where we're emitting loving-kindness to the planet to our community to our country friends and family because what we're being a vessel to and what we're sharing with others it's coming through us as we're sharing it so that's an opportunity to really shift energy as well so I hope these tips help and support you one more thing is if you really have a daily routine that doesn't work for you I would say every day do three things that are different and it can even be brushing your teeth with the other hand driving a different way to work or walking a different way to work challenging yourself to listen to different types of music asking your friends and family to suggest new artists or stopping and doing physical stretches when you notice your mind wandering or doing 10 star jumps three times a day whatever it is be creative have fun with it but just taking those micro breaks or the micro interruptions or open up some space for expansion as we nod ourselves out of autopilot so have a beautiful day or evening whenever you're listening to this and wherever you are and may the rivers or the water continue to flow and flow and flow and knock that boulder out of the way bye
