Stepping onto a slipstream of accelerated shift, intensity seems to rule our days. Denial and apathy are quickly being overtaken by a tremendous storm of panic. Rolling, roiling clouds with purifying winds are moving in, testing the strength of our root systems. These winds ask us to come in contact with what is essentially sturdy in us beneath all of the volatility and uncertainty of these times.

The conveyor belts of the status quo are being dismantled. Life as normal is grinding to a halt. Our consumeristic, jet-setting ways are being put on the examination table, no longer taken for granted. Somehow it feels like things are moving very quickly and very slowly all at the same time.

For many of us, we may have never experienced anything like this in all our time on earth. 

There is a tremendous amount of unprocessed free-floating fear dominating our collective spaces. This makes it a particularly important time to consider what individual vibration we are putting out into the world. Just as we allow all sorts of things to have an energy imprint on us, we too send off an energy outprint. Think of this like an inner-lighthouse that we shine towards everything around us. When we begin to emit our own frequency versus just absorbing the frequencies around us, we move into a state of grounded presence and energy mastery.

When we start outprinting our intent on our world rather than endlessly being a vessel for anything that comes our way, a certain mature autonomy arrives. It is empowering to be a conscious participant in our energy management, to become increasingly discerning around what we hold and share. Feeling into the edges of space around us, we can come to better understand where we end and where others begin.

You may be tempted to try and stuff your anxieties under the rug of yourself in an attempt to keep life going as usual. You may try to watch the news, read the headlines, or chat with neighbors and think that you are unaffected. Cool headed. Unalarmed.

The truth is that it is normal to have fear arrive. The trouble actually begins when we let the fear go unacknowledged within us, slowly growing into an unfed monster. Generally I find that the power is taken out of this creature-fear when I call it out in the open and look it straight in the eyes. Just that moment of conscious acknowledgement seems to shrink it. 

A couple of weeks ago I received the dreaded robo-call from my children’s school that the first case of Covid-19 in all of Oregon was in their school. First case. In the whole state. Their school. Closed for the next week. And I proceeded to spend about three hours sucked down the vortex of what ifs and worst case scenarios. I was forced to directly confront all of the ways in which I thought “it could never happen to me.” I watched myself move through every level of disbelief, paranoia, and worry during those hours of free-fall. I won’t pretend that any of it was pretty or that I handled it with grace. But it did give me the opportunity to think about how I want to take up space in the world right now. 

It also got me realizing that there is something particularly primal about this kind of fear. Found deep within the dark matter of ourselves, it is a fear that lives in the very bones of our survival. It activates residues within our genetic lines, regenerating plague memories and times when our ancestral families may have been decimated by disease. Like a deep-sleeping protective mechanism, our bodies hold these memories in our cells, thinking that a sudden explosion of dormant fear will keep us more safe.

Panic and anxiety from the collective also threatens to get us all whipped up and overtaken. Its force can be very subtle but highly seductive. This is what makes you feel slimmed when you indulge in that seemingly innocuous phone call with your sister to gossip about who you know that is still flying. It is how you feel after you leave the disturbingly empty library with stations of Purell at every corner or greet face-mask covered workers at the post office. 

Don’t let all of this ever-expanding fear go unacknowledged. We must recognize it and find ways to continuously clear it out of our systems. We must down-regulate our nervous systems, proactively using the tools we already have but have forgotten to use. 

It is time for us to be active participants, playing our part in creating the kind of world we want to live in right now. No, I am not going to tell you to wash your hands again. Mine are already dry and chapped. But I will offer you a few more simple practices to help you arrive more intentionally to these shifting times:

Ground into the present moment, feet on the floor, butt on the chair, breath in your lungs, awake in your body.

Look into the eyes of any fear you might be carrying, thank it for its longing to protect and help you, and then replace its presence in your system with your own inner radiance. See light flood your cells instead of old seeds of distrust. (Do this as many times as you need to as a simple practice). 

Be aware of your thought streams and remember to be your own compassionate observer. 

Hold your physical body with attention and tenderness. In your quiet moments, remember to listen to its voice.

Know your energy signature and what you are outprinting to others around you. 

Uplevel your practices and the mastery with how you take up space. Let there be an uptick in your prayer, meditation, and breathwork. Remember your music, art, and creative yearnings. Take lots of naps and go to bed early. Spend time with your hands in the dirt or wandering in nature. Go to the outside places and people you know regenerate and nourish your spirits.  

Trust in the resolve, resilience, and radiance that you naturally contain.