As we move into winter, it’s time to pause and reflect on the last year and upon where we are in the great scheme of things. Winter can be a time of rest, recharging and reflection. Whether the year has been eventful or boring, whether it has felt overwhelming or productive, whether you find yourself on a trajectory or you feel lost, is all based on one thing:
Survival vs. Creation
When we’re in survival, the bodymind rations our energy in order to make sure we have more for another day. Our focus narrows so we can’t see the forest for the trees.
And if we’re not in survival, how much stress can we take before we revert back to a baseline of survival? How resilient are we?
Stress occurs when we can’t predict future outcomes and when we can’t control a situation; when we feel helpless. Stress manifests as tension in the bodymind. Too much tension brings the tissues to the point of failure, where the joints and ligaments and tendons strain so much as to create pain.
Pain then is the bodymind’s signal to the brain that there is too much tension or an imbalance of tensions. Call it what you want: arthritis, inflammation, degeneration, there are so many names that it is given. When there’s an imbalance of tensions in the bodymind from accumulated stress and the fight or flight reaction, you get improper biomechanics, poor posture, pain and a whole host of other ailments.
Stress can cause a lowering of the immune system, making us more easily sick and for longer.
Creation is exactly opposite to Survival. In Creation, we have as much energy as we need, we are connected to who we really are and what we’re here to do.
How resilient you are depends on how much of a balance you have between survival and creation.
It’s not like you are not supposed to ever be in Survival or that Survival is a bad thing. It is meant for us to survive. It is at the same time, not the way we’re supposed to live every day of our lives.
This year has been a tumultuous one for me with personal challenges, incredible miracles, and consciously introducing uncertainty into the equation. It has been a rewarding year and at the same time I recognize the need to pause, rest and reflect.
I think the key to Survival vs. Creation is to know at any given point, which one you’re in. And if at the time it doesn’t suit you, then shift. You know the care that you receive at the Happy Spine is to help your bodymind regulate itself better, to disperse tension, to gain an understanding of what the tensions are that you carry so that you can take steps to change your situation.
Pain and disease are not so much from outside of us. They are more an inside job. We can also take solace in knowing that we can do something to change it and that we are not a victim of forces outside of our control.
I hope that this holiday season offers you time for rest and reflection. And that the new year brings your many more blessings and miracles.