Springtime In the Rockies!
Every knot was once a straight rope. Gregge Tiffen
Sometimes, especially when we’re surprised by an unexpected challenge, we go negative. Fear and worry set in. We may find it difficult to sleep. Our focus stays fixed on the problem and our fear that we don’t know what to do. On some level we all know better. But our ability to tap into that knowing is blocked by our negativity.
It’s at these times that Gregge’s metaphor of the knot once being a straight rope reminds me of another of his truisms: “There is always an answer.” Ahhh … breathe that in for a moment. There is always an answer. (Rinse. Repeat.)
I’m taking a bit of a turn this week to share a process that I discovered from reading a transcript of a lecture that Gregge offered over 30 years ago. The context of the lecture is health and strength of the cells. He says, “The argument for good health in terms of cellular strength is the argument that says you cannot be affected by the negative to any degree as long as the cells are healthy because they will not sustain this negative flow going through. The cells will reject the information and turn it into a positive form.”
So, my health is a critical factor in how I respond to life, in particular my ability to access beliefs like ‘there is always an answer’ when the pressure is on. As I read on, just beginning to scratch the surface of this obvious yet potentially life changing idea, Gregge offered this simple three step process for clearing the system of the toxicity of worry:
1. Run around the block – Exert yourself to the point of huffing and puffing to “clear the blood and strengthen the cells”. Put your attention on that intention: clearing the negativity rather than on the knot that you need to untie.
2. Drink lots of water – Drink lots of water to “flush and neutralize the system”.
3. Go to bed – sleep. And, if tomorrow finds you still anxious and worried rather than able to face the knot, repeat the process. I believe that Einstein once said that he solved many problems by taking a nap.
This is contrary to much of our learning and the habits that we’ve developed. We believe that we need to focus on the problem and worry over it until it is solved. We put tremendous pressure on ourselves (our cells) to do just that. As I discover more and more, I see just how high the cost of that pressure is: our good health.
Thankfully, I’m not faced with a big life knot right now. And that seems like a good time to start a new practice: shifting the intention and focus of my exercise, water intake, and rest to strengthening myself (my cells) for the time when just such a knot will appear.