THE GOAL OF LEVEL 2
Level 2 is identified by the EMOTIONS. People who get caught up in emotions, people who try to understand the emotions. The problem with this level is that you have to get triggered to understand what is YOU and what is not YOU. That means in order to elevate out of this level you have to be willing to get triggered and do you work in this world while in connection to other people’s crap! That means you trust yourself enough and your purpose that you become vulnerable in front of other people and don’t have to defend or run away from what you feel, instead you use the TRIGGERS of the emotions to go inward and figure out what is happening in connection to all of the life experiences you accumulated during LEVEL 1.
ROOT CHAKRA (step 1)
As I have stated before, a key barometer for me in the root chakra is my tongue placement. Wherever my tongue is indicates where my awareness is, either in the mind or in the body. So this week one of the key things I would do is check in with my tongue. Anytime I found myself actively in my mind I would breathe and ground myself. I would then take the situation being played out in my head, allow myself to detach from that situation, and play these thoughts out to find the area where I could allow the most harmony to flow. I find when my tongue is up around the roof of my mouth that my mind is racing and it is usually over some problem or situation in life that is currently requiring a lot of my energy; most of the time, some form of unfinished business. Instead of pushing these thoughts out of my head and centering myself. this week I would take these thoughts and bring them to the forefront of my attention. I would then slow down my mental and physical body enough to separate my ego brain from the situation. After separating my ego brain (simply enough by breathing) and releasing any hoped-for outcomes, I would then analyze the situation, trying to bring about the most harmony and balance. I would look for solutions that used the least amount of energy and created the most fluidity, and allow those actions to take place. I kept a constant visualization of water and how smooth and all-encompassing water is. I would try to organize my actions just like the flow of water. I found myself more observant during my everyday routine. Instead of planning and getting carried away in my own timeline, I would allow little interruptions during my day to redirect my energy. Any time interruptions came up during my day, I would give those interruptions my full attention until they were finished or until something else took its place. I was astonished to see the outcome of this experiment. To my amazement, at the end of the day I didn’t carry any baggage. Early in the week I remember sitting down at the computer and allowing every interruption and trigger – whether it be a thought, email, staff member. or phone call – to completely redirect my work. As soon as one of these interruptions triggered me, I would flow my energy towards that situation until something else pulled me away. When the task was complete, something else would happen to divert my attention. I can honestly admit I have never been so presently aware of my situation and everything going on around me. When I would allow my energy and attention to shift I felt so connected to the current focus that I understood how important or not important it was, and how much or little energy to put into it. Instead of allowing everything to pile into one big energetic burden, I was able to see how much trivial stuff I could accomplish by simply giving it the proper recognition when it came about. This kind of living might sound sporadic and a bit all over the place. You may ask how anyone can accomplish anything by living like that. By allowing my energy to shift completely every time it was needed, I attended to everything necessary with no residual ties to any one person, task or problem. I allowed myself to see a situation for what it was and made decisions during that situation that elevated my responsibilities to it. At the end of the day, I left with not one obligation on my mind. I felt freer and less burdened by the weight of my daily tasks.
I applied this technique to my home life as well. My children and husband are a big part of my energetic connections, so I decided to also approach situations at home as if I was a fluid stream of water, trying to keep the flow moving with as little resistance as possible. This is easy to write, but tough to implement for the first time. As a wife and a mom there are many times I want to pull out my hair because I have answered a question for the fourth time. Or was it that I had to go searching for another lost article for someone, or correct a mistake for the hundredth time? Holding my new fluid and calm root chakra at the forefront of my mind, I would allow these typical disturbances to flow by unnoticed. Instead of using my programmed responses, which create spots of frustration and tension, I would find ways to flow in the situations and bring more harmony and peace into our home life. There are so many times in life where the ego mind tries to pull us away from our presence by dealing in wrongs and rights, winning and losing, and past and future. The ego mind is trying to keep us distracted by giving us something to constantly think about. Our goal in life should be to relax, breathe, and enjoy present awareness of everyday situations. I find my ego mind tries desperately to stay in business by finding things to worry about, fight with, or fear. If my husband misplaces his keys, my ego mind jumps into action replaying the hundreds of other times he has done the same thing. Then the ego likes to point this out verbally by acknowledging how many times this happens. These memories we store inside our mind create subconscious programming. We feel safe when these actions get played out over and over because the ego mind likes to be right. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy to make us feel safe and in a control. Our goal should be to let go of the disturbances created by the ego mind and find peace within the present moment, by finding the beauty and flow in every situation. Reward yourself by staying presently aware of what is going on around you. Look for beauty and disconnect from energetic drains. Energetic drains are like the pebbles we throw in the lake; we like to get a reaction, and the easiest way to do that is create multiple situations to distract us from the natural beauty of what we have. Stay fluid and calm, and harmony and balance will follow.
If anything proves I was made to realize fluidity this week it is the fact that our family took a vacation by car from Ohio to the northernmost side of Pennsylvania. The trip started Thursday and went until Thursday of the following week. I was given rain in the beginning of the week, so no nature meditation. Then, I was traveling by car and hotel-hopping for the majority of the week. If there was any indication that I needed to learn fluidity and how to go with the flow, it was the fact that I was going to be trapped alongside those people who tend to test my presence and flow more than anything else in the world.
My sons are one-and-a-half and three-years old-and two of the best teachers of patience, presence, and fluidity. Before I move on to the Sacral chakra I forgot to mention I forgot my cell phone charger for this trip into Pennsylvania. Was it the higher powers at work ensuring I was unable to connect to anything but my family for five straight days? Not sure, I will let you decide. Children are amazing indicators of how connected you are with your root chakra. Take my one-and-a-half year old: he will stop on a walk for two full minutes just to stare off into the woods because he saw the leaves rustle. After he feels like he has given adequate time to the leaves, he will turn around and continue the walk. During his two minute trance no one and nothing can break through to him, not his mother yelling his name (trust me I tried), or his brother throwing rocks. Nothing will break his gaze. He will stay focused until his energy shifts to something else. During this exchange he is completely present and flowing according to his own internal barometer. The root is about presence and the flow of energy around you. Before working on my own root chakra energy in the past I would have tried to coerce my sons into doing what I want. I would yell at them and try to interrupt their nature trance to get them to continue on the walk. My newly discovered understanding of how I need to flow is to redirect their energies and if this doesn’t work to meet them in their own grounded state and enjoy the attraction together. This trip has been one of small changes in how I allow my energy to meet my children’s energy instead of overpowering it. Being completely present in the presence of our children allows them to experience the world with curiosity and excitement and without fear. By finding the balance between exploration and guidance, we can create and cultivate an environment of tactile learning and confidence, with no hesitations about the world or the people living in it.
I started this root chakra week with hopes of talking to trees, nature meditation, and discovering how to be a present and fluid spirit on this earth. I had hoped to find a special talisman to start my medicine bag and begin my full chakra immersion. I am happy to report that life threw me a curve ball and I adapted to the change with complete fluidity. Wasn’t that the real test? I feel I succeeded at understanding how to change my life into a more fluid reflection of the world around me and still feel harmony and balance. I learned quickly the root chakra is about being present and allowing your energy to flow with the energies around you. The fact that I ever had a plan of what to expect this week in retrospect was the beginning of the end of the root chakra. I accomplished a huge step this week and that was to let go of any preconceived notions that I can control these circumstances in life. I feel completely present and open to whatever my chakras have in store for me. I learned what it felt like to use my energy to help create a flow and not be inhibited by it. By recognizing that we all operate on impulses I allowed my body to stay connected to the present moment and not get detoured based on ego thoughts. I witnessed opportunities happen before my eyes and chose to flow along with these opportunities with little to no extra energy given on my end. A key to chakra healing is to know where you are giving out your energy and to whom you may be giving it to. Without complete presence you will never know exactly how or why this is happening. All you will know is that there is too much to take on, and life will feel like a burden. The root chakra allows us to enjoy the beauty in the present moment, and allows us the ability to stay with or make a change to better flow with our own energies. Without worry about the past or what awaits us in the future, we are left with only the present moment. What a beautiful thing to enjoy.