The #1 most important principle to start your day with.
The #1 most important principle to start your day with: FLOW.
One day I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts —Ancient Wisdom Today by Shaman Durek– and something Shaman Durek said resonated with me deep to my bones. His statement resonated beyond my bones and back into the universe. What he said was something akin to, “if you wake up each morning feeling like you have a knife to your throat, then you need to do whatever you have to do to stop that. Your life depends on it.” [I’m paraphrasing his words from memory, but thought I’d put in quotations anyhow.]
Shaman Durek’s words really hit me at the time, because I was not happy with my day job. I woke up each day in immediate stress mode. It was terrible. One morning, I reacted so tensley to my alarm that I slipped on the floor getting out of bed and landed on my tailbone. Ouch that was a solid wake-up call. (Pun intended.)
Tension is not a healthy state to live in.
To understand this physically, imagine that you’re driving through an intersection and see out of the corner of your eye that you’re about to be hit by an oncoming car. You have a split second to prepare yourself for the encounter. You can react in fear and tense up, or let go of control and loosen your whole body. You’re more likely to break bones by tensing up than loosening up.
Loosen Up
Loosening up provides shock absorption to whatever you encounter. This priciple applies to all aspects of yourself: spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional.
In summary, Shaman Durek meant that nothing in life should be forced. Force goes against the laws of nature. Nature is a constant state of flow. With force comes resistance.
Have you been trying to break a bad habit but the habit remains? The habit will remain if you haven’t addressed the reason for the habit. If you haven’t addressed the reason, then you are forcing a change.
[Learn the secret to breaking bad habits for good in this post.]
The more you let go, the more things will flow.
Do you ever wonder why surfers are so laid-back? It’s because they practice physical embodiment of the flow-state.
Think of Neil in the Matrix, dodging bullets. If you want to dodge bullets, let loose. Be flexible. Mold your body to what comes at you.
What to Do if You Wake Up Stressed Out?
Firstly, if you wake up stressed out, understand that is okay. A lot of us do. We have a lot of stuff (I call it “furry b*sht”) going on in our world. There are a lot of outside influences to cope with as we manage our inner state.
Steps to take if you wake up stressed out:
- Acknowledge out loud that you are stressed out.
- Say “thank you” to your feelings of stress, as they have brought something important to your attention.
- Analyze why you are stressed out. What dissatisfactions come up with your daily life?
- Write down steps 1-3 after stating/talking through them each outloud.
- Now write down one small task you can complete today to change your circumstances. For example, you could start with telling your partner/a friend that you are unhappy and why.
- Repeat this practice as often as you find helpful.
Now, flow like water. As you were.
