May 2020

4 Ways to Stay in Flow

Having a hard time staying in the flow? 

You are not alone, Dearest.

To maintain a positive mindset in the midst of a pandemic, requires a lot of you. We are all in this together and feeling the hardship.

The most important part is to commit to this. Your brain is programmed to focus on threats and danger, in order to figure out how to escape alive. This was very smart of your brain back in the old Stone Age times, since this was the only way you would survive. Nowadays the challenge is not just to survive an attack of a saber-toothed tiger, but to figure out how to raise above the fear and controlling mind of your inner Stone Age person. To do that you have to established a daily routine of mindset changing behavior. You have to learn how to actually trick your brain into being happy and relaxed.

It is your choice - staying in the negative mindset or moving forward towards more trust and love.

• Show Compassion
  • Be kind to yourself when you feel the downs, or when you are in the blame game. Do not get angry, instead talk to your inner child as you would to a “real” child in need. “Sweetie, its perfectly understandable that you are are angry / sad/ scared. This is not easy times. I love you”. Feel the difference in your heartspace when you say this.

• Apply Gratitude
  • Contemplating what you are grateful for, reduces the stress hormones in your body with 23% (studies, University of California). Gratitude can be many things…. Some days you are grateful to have won the lottery, some days grateful to simply be alive, other days you are grateful you managed to get a shower for the first time in a week. It doesn’t have to be amazing things in the eyes of others. Gratefulness is about you being aware of the small things in life as well – and appreciating them.

• Identify something Positive
  • Is your mind speeding ahead in a negative self-defeating thought pattern? Then its time to teach your brain how to stay positive. Try every evening for a week to write down 3 positive things that happened during your day. Anything goes, “only stepping in dog poo with one foot instead of both feet”
  • Whenever a negative thought pops up, you turn it around and repeat it from a positive perspective. This can be challenging but also rather fun. When you focus on negative thoughts, the serotonin level of your brain decreases, and leaves you feeling even more depressed and powerless. Happy thoughts, smiling and laughing increases the serotonin.

• Daily Meditations
  • Meditation reduces the flow of incoming information to your brain and thus slowing down your thought patterns and making you feel more relaxed. When you practice meditation on a regular basis, you will not experience the same levels of anxiety, anger or fear as when you don’t meditate. You are capable of making better decisions, since you take your time to actually think, instead of acting on autopilot.
  • Meditation makes the above 3 suggestions much easier to implement in a daily routine. You can find many beautiful meditations on the internet. Look for one that suits you. A daily meditation practice of 20 minutes is a good place to start.

These suggestions can alter your life and create the difference you are looking for. It can be difficult to implement all of it at once. Be kind to yourself, take your time – or ask for help.