Reconnecting to Spirit

I generally live my life connected to spirit and I’m used to getting little cues and nudges that point me in the right direction.  It took me a long time to get to a place where I was calm enough to truly hear that small still voice that, for me, comes as a knowing that something is the right direction to take.  Some would call this intuition, but mine is usually a little stronger than intuition and comes as a sense of knowing.  I know I should or should not do something.  For instance, this morning as we were getting ready to drive from Cleveland to Chicago, something told me to check the key we’d just had made for the pet sitter.  We checked the key and it didn’t work, but we had another key we could leave so the pet sitter could get in and check on our pets.  Realistically, I know that if the pet sitter had not been able to get in, we would have had no qualms about telling her to call a locksmith or break a window, but listening to my intuition spared us that trouble.

Unfortunately, there are days when I get disconnected from spirit and I let my anxiety and fear override my sense of serenity and connection.  The last few weeks have been rough and there have been lots of days where my emotions have spiraled and I’ve felt disconnected from spirit.  That’s not a comfortable place for me to be because when I’m that state, I miss the cues from spirit that help guide my path and I feel out of tune with the world.

The signs that I’m disconnected include:

• Being agitated and getting stressed over little things
• Craving sugar and not caring what I eat

• Spending more time focused on problems than solutions

• Losing my temper over minor things

• Choosing mind candy (trashy tv and romance novels) over meditation

• Spending money on things I don’t really need or truly want

Once I realize I’m disconnected, it sometimes takes effort to reconnect because being disconnected for me is sometimes a sign that there’s something I don’t want to do or to face.  However, because I do know that life is truly better when I’m connected, I’ve developed a retinue of ways to reconnect.  If one doesn’t work, I’ll move on to another.

Pray

There is an old saying that you should pray and mediate for at least 30 minutes every day, except when you’re busy  and then it should be an hour.  I wholeheartedly agree with this advice with the addendum that you should pray and mediate for an hour when you’re disconnected as well.  I know that when I’m disconnected, I’ve turned my back an spirit and not the other way around.  Consciously making an effort to pray helps rebuild the connection.  When I’m really swirly and feel like all I want to do is whine, I will recite the Serenity Prayer or another memorized prayer.  I’ve found that saying words I’ve said before has an amazingly calming effect on me and truly helps me to reconnect.

Spend time in Nature

Nature is one of the greatest healers there is and when I’m feeling swirly and disconnected, I’ll make time to take a long walk in the woods, to sit by a lake or ocean and listen to the waves, or even wade in a fountain.  There is something about being in nature that reminds me that all these problems I think are so overwhelming, really aren’t that big at all.  Another way I spend time in nature, that may seem a little weird is to walk through cemeteries.  Most cemeteries are amazingly peaceful spots and walking through them reminds me that all my problems really are just a blip on the radar of this thing called life.

Do Housework

I used to hate housework and get annoyed at having to wash dishes, mop the floor, or perform any other menial chores, but I’ve learned that housework is one of the most amazing forms of meditation available.  I’ll run some warm soapy dishes and wash the dishes while looking out at my backyard.  There is something immensely soothing about the feel of the warm water and the meditative quality of washing the dishes.  It is one of the most surefire calming techniques I have.  If I’m in need of something a little more active, I might rearrange the furniture or

Get My Body Moving

When I’m all swirly, I tend to sit and stew.  However, this is exactly the wrong thing to do as stewing keeps me in the problem.  Getting my body moving helps me to reconnect as it puts me back in my body and helps me to be aware of my breathing, the feeling of my feet hitting the earth (or the treadmill) and the feel of my heart beating in my chest.  Reconnecting with my body is an amazing way to both work of excess stress energy and to reconnect to the divine.

Ground and Center

Grounding and centering are connected for me as I usually will ground and then center.  Grounding simply means that I make a conscious effort to reconnect with the earth.  I can do this by walking barefoot in the grass, hugging a tree, or visualizing myself connected to the core of the earth.  Once I’ve reconnected with the earth, I can center by sitting quietly and pulling my thoughts back to center.

Meditate

Meditating is difficult for me when I am disconnected and if I try doing it before something physical (housework, exercising, walking in nature), I will almost surely fail and end up more frustrated with myself before.  However, once I’ve cleared my mind by doing one of the activities above, I’m in a good place to reconnect by consciously sitting down and paying attention to my breathing.  One of my very favorite meditations is to imagine I am standing on a bridge above a stream.  As I stand there, I launch each of my worries into the stream on a biodegradable boat.  As I watch my worries and cares float away, I feel my body lightening.

Acupuncture

I know that when I am disconnected that means that my third eye is blocked and I’m no longer receiving guidance from above.  Acupuncture helps me reconnect by needling my third eye and clearing away those blockages.  Acupuncture always works when I let it work.  And for me to let it work, I have to have worked out some of the angst through the methods noted above.

Listen to Music

Music is a wonderful tool that I use often to wash away the angst and put me in a better frame of mind.  What I listen to depends on the mood that I’m in and sometimes one type of music works better than others.  Some of my favorites for helping me to reconnect with spirit are The Blues, Classic Rock and Roll and Spiritual Music.  Right now I’m on a Blues kick and I find that just letting the amazing sounds of BB King et al wash over me helps to wash away all my worries and cares.

Read Positive Material

Reading positive material helps me to remember that there are good things going on in the world and that life isn’t all misery and angst.  Positive reading material includes checking out my favorite Facebook groups, looking for positive material online, and reading spiritual books.  These things help to remind me of the good stuff in the world and help me to reconnect to the good place within myself.

Journal

My journaling to reconnect takes a couple of forms.  Sometimes I just let myself get all the whining and icky stuff out on the page, but I have to be careful with this technique because it can send me into a deeper swirly state.  I’ve found it more helpful to ask myself questions and journal on the answers.  If I can’t come up with positive questions, I’ll search online for journal writing prompts and answer them.  Making myself think about questions and really taking time to answer them helps me reach a deep place of wisdom within myself.

Have Fun

Laughter truly is the best medicine and one of the beset ways I know to distract myself from a negative place is to go out and have fun.  The problem is that when I’m in that swirly disconnected place, It’s hard to motivate myself to actually get out of the door and have fun, but once I do I get caught up in laughing and having a good time and I often forget why I was in such a bad mood in the first place.

Hang Out with Friends

If having fun and laughing alone gets me into a good mood, hanging out with people I care about gets me there quicker.  Sometimes just telling silly jokes or hanging out with people who truly know me helps me to get out of that icky disconnected place.

Be Creative

Losing myself in a creative pursuit like writing poetry, making jewelry, or creating artwork helps distract me from whatever is going on in my life and helps me reconnect to the spiritual part of my being.

I’ve always felt it counter intuitive that I would have to work to go with the flow and connect with spirit as I always just thought it happened and that working for it made it less real somehow.  However, after a few rounds of feeling disconnected, I’ve learned that taking positive steps to reconnect is the best thing I can do for my mental health and the sanity of the people around me.