In Network care, we talk about reaching new levels of stability with levels of instability in-between. Levels of stability are periods where life is going well and not much is changing. Periods of instability refer to periods with lots of change from what you are used to. Last week, someone helped me see this concept as layers and I wanted to share my experience.

I recently restarted meditating and doing breathe work from the Art of Living. I am doing this with the intention of upgrading myself before our new kiddo arrives Earth side in July. The only issue was that I was waking up extremely grumpy and even angry after doing this work. This happened consistently for the first 5-6 days of doing the work. This was concerning to me, and it was causing instability in my life. I know that meditation and breath work are supposed to be good for me, but being a grump gus all day is not great. I consulted a practice member and friend who is a master yogi and his answer was simple and profound. He said it sounded like I was running up against a layer of something (anger) and he suggested I do more of the breath work and meditation in order to push through.

I realized that the anger after meditating was the reason I had stopped meditating many years ago. Meditation used to be extremely enjoyable and productive for me until something changed and I simply quit the practice. Anytime I tried to start again, I never made it through the angry layer.

I am happy to report that I stayed with the practice and am seemingly through the layer of anger and on to the next level of stability. Meditation and breath work are once again enjoyable and productive, I just had to push through the anger layer/level of instability. It took about 5 days until I noticed a wonderful shift. I was no longer grumpy and instead was laughing and playing with our kiddos more. My goal is to continue to do these practices daily for at least until the baby comes- I’ll try to continue then, but there will definitely be some instability to deal with.

Are there any unpleasant layers/levels of instability that you have been avoiding? if so, maybe its time for you too to push through the next layer.

Overall, taking blame out of the equation lowers defense and judgement, and this helps conversation and energy flow openly.

When we sense that we are being blamed, we tend to get defensive, and this stops the open flow of conversation. The same thing happens when we judge our situation or blame someone for the way it is, it stops the flow of energy. When we accept how things are without judgement, we let the energy flow, and this opens the possibility for change.

Here is a recap of AAA in case you have forgotten or have not heard this yet.

AAA stands for being Aware, Acknowledge and Accept. This formula can be applied to any situation that we don’t like the way it is.

Aware – you first need to be aware of the thing you don’t like or want to change.

Acknowledge – you have to admit or acknowledge the situation. Donny states this is best done out loud and its even better if you say it out loud to another person.

Accept- accept that it is what it is without judgement, blame or wishing it was different. Accept that it hasn’t changed yet. 

Doing all 3 steps allows the energy to flow and opens the possibility for easier change. The last step can be the hardest. Here is an old newsletter about acceptance in layers. Link https://nextlevelchirodallas.com/acceptance-in-layers/

Last week we talked about how Network care helps our bodies know that they are safe. This lets our physiology shift from defense to growth.

Now let’s look at why our bodies sometimes think that we are not safe. We still have the same nervous systems that our ancient ancestors had, but we live in a far busier and more complicated world. This allows our nervous systems to get overwhelmed from the sheer amount of life we experience. On top of this, our Nervous Systems interpret life in a binary fashion. It divides all input into either stress or not stress. So things like emotional or mental stress produce the same body response as an actual threat to our safety. This is why we talk about needing safety in our bodies even if we consciously know we are safe.

Some common stresses in todays world are:

mentally or even subconsciously replaying past events

fear of the future in both finances and relationships

fear of not fitting in

over thinking or over-feeling

feeling like life is not fair

plus many more

All of these common stresses can trigger the fight or flight response similar to if we were being attacked by a wild animal. This stress accumulates over time and helps to shift our bodies into defense mode.

Next Level Chiropractic- 14200 Midway rd #110 Dallas TX 75244