Question:
There are so many stressful things in my life. How do I cope with them?
Almine’s Answer: Let’s look at what stress is and how to cope with it. Hans Selye (1978) defined stress as the wear and tear of the demands of existence on an organism. This is not dissimilar from Toltec mysticism that describes stress as follows: Their teachings claim that the life-force of an individual is contained in an oval shaped field ( called a Luminous Cocoon ) around an individual’s body. The movement of the subatomic field grinds against this Cocoon, causing wear and tear (this grinding motion is called the Tumbler) . This stress wears the individual down until it finally cracks the Luminous Cocoon and death results. The very applicable part of the Toltec explanation is : The friction between the Tumbler and the Luminous Cocoon only exists because of resistance of the individual to life unfolding along his journey. When all resistance ceases, so does stress. The question is therefore not how to minimize stress, but how to minimize our resistance to life.
The first consideration in living a life of surrendered trust, comes from a quote often used by my family members, which has inspired me for many years:
” God grant us the patience to accept the things that cannot be changed, the courage to change what we can, and the wisdom to discern between the two…”.
The second consideration in surrendering to what life brings, is to realize that even though most wish for their life to change, few are willing to change themselves. One of the primary causes of resistance is our fight to keep the status quo. Change is an inevitability, which when resisted, becomes forced change. This results in discomfort and pain. The other alternative is a life of fully cooperating with change and living with grace and poise.
Shakespeare said:
” Man in his own place, and of himself, can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven…” Our stress level is predicated by our attitudes. We are not its victim, but it’s cause — we are the architects of the quality of our life’s journey.
Geoffrey says
“The greatest gift of humanity’s power is the measure of the Surrender. Geoffrey
Surrender leads to Trust,Trust leads you into Surrender”.
Almine I believe you showed us this example of Surrender in your personal plight this year of 8.
Beloved Almine, we welcome you into year 9, as we watch your new transcendence.
Clair says
I love you so much Almine, Thank you for all that you are and all that you do with and for us. Much love from Queens.
Jana says
I posted one comment yesterday and today this beautiful poem came trough:
RHINO’S HORN
When monkey dwells in the safety of a tree.
and the man clings to safety of the walls,
the rhino’s horn breaks trough the wall
and the flux of light enters the castle.
The man is perplexed but not scared
even though his heart beats very fast.
He relaxes into his own heart
and feels the walls crumbling down.
He becomes aware of his own armour
not quite sure if he can let it down
and then he starts shaking profoundly,
realizing that these are his own walls coming down.
He’s lying on the floor without moving
and all he feels is the bricks lying down.
Felling numb, yet relaxing into the floor
leaving the brick behind.
He is fully present in his own body
feeling light tingle in his heart.
He feels ever so grateful and happy,
the bricks yield light to surrendered trust.
Jana says
I received some guidance and tools on how to deal with stress and some information regarding it, so I would like to share it.
Concentration or our focus, is masculine aspect of our psyche. When we allow our mental tunnel of attention (which is masculine aspect of our psyche) to focus on the external impressions then feminine aspect of our psyche empathizes with what we focus on. Where is our focus that is where our energy goes. And because now the most energy is in the inner space, we need to shift our focus into inner space. Helpful practical tool is ask yourself (for example when you feel stressed): “how do I feel” and allow yourself to feel the state of your being. This does two thinks: one, is that it re-focuses the masculine aspect of our psyche into the inner space and the feminine aspect empathize with the state of our being. Just relax into feeling the state of your being in the present moment. What ever feeling you feel, pretend like you are an actor and you are acting what you are feeling. Go on and play as if it was a play. You may feel like you want to include your whole body and start dancing or making rhymes, or express verbally and aloud what you are feeling or you may gain an insight or feel in oh. The point here is to express authentically. Be authentic with expressing how you feel.
Secondly, what this does is the masculine aspect of the psyche focuses or concentrates properly and gets less and less distracted by too much information and this way we can integrate what needs to be integrated or studied or gain an insight. And also the feminine aspect of our psyche which can empathize + the proper concentration of the masculine aspect of our psyche is being more balanced in receptivity and proactivity of the psyche. And this leads to more expanded awareness.
Janice says
Excellently presented. So applicable. I really get how confusion started and NOW how it ends. Many thanks, Jana, for posting. May the Rhino’s heart prevail!
Denise says
Thank you Almine and a huge thank you for the Elfin Cards……as well.
Looking forward to “playing” with it. Not yet sure how best to apply them yet, but all will be revealed
Alexandra says
Just got my personalized fragrance today!. Almine, thank you for the Elvin cards! Hugs and kisses!.
denisa says
Thank you for the reminder. I love this new look and feel of the website!!!