Developing a vegetable garden from a field into a farm has brought an endless list of benefits for me this year. Apart from the obvious nutritious goodness of organic vegetables, most of the benefits have come in the shape of deeper self-awareness - an intensified, laser-focused, hawk-eyed observation of my mental, emotional and physical state, moment by moment. My meditation has had the shape of digging, planting, weeding, watering and watching nature's constant flow.
So my latest reflection has been on the topic of STIFFNESS.
The definition of 'STIFFNESS' is 'the inability to move easily and without pain'.
If something was moving well before and now it has ceased, it has become 'stiff'. This has been the case with my body recently. Hence my self-knowledge focus has gone in this direction.
Why is my body stiff when I wake up in the morning? I noticed that this stiffness is not really only connected to the amount of physical work. Three key questions were born:
1. Where in my body do I feel Stiffness? (What is the body communicating to me?)
2. How is this Stiffness working for me? (If there was a benefit to feeling stiff, what might that be?)
3. Where in my life do I feel Stiff? (What are the limiting beliefs that are holding me stuck?)
The answer to question 1 was easy - ankles and knees, sometimes hips and lower back.
The answers to questions 2 and 3 required some more self-reflection and thinking of a higher kind.
Looking at the physiology of the body as a system, turns out the one key mineral that is responsible for the flexible, relaxed and not stiff muscles, is Magnesium. In fact, Magnesium, the fourth most fundamental mineral in the human body, that is involved in more than 600 cellular reactions, is actually deficient in more than half of the population! Shocking, isn't it!? Magnesium is crucial in relaxing the muscles. It has an active role in relaying signals from the brain to the body, naturally helps to balance heart rate, lowers high blood pressure and blood sugar levels, helps with the quality of sleep and is just as effective as anti-depressant medication when taken as a supplement! What an amazing mineral!?
True, when I take bigger amounts of my daily supplements (doTERRA's Lifelong Vitality) I feel less stiff. Point taken! Desi, always take your supplements. But also: Magnesium is in pumpkin seeds, spinach, chard, flaxseed, almonds, cashews and even in dark chocolate. Note to self: 'Chard! We have this growing on the Farm! Must eat a lot of that!'
My self-study took me to my 'Bible' - the book that I often consult whenever a physical issue bothers me. Here is the extract from the part called
Emotional aspects of Stiffness
"Your natural feelings, spontaneous forces, aggressive energies, etc. are being firmly tied down. You don't really live from out of your heart. Perhaps it is of much more importance to you how you are perceived by the outer world or how much you respect certain norms or rules. You don't allow yourself to live flexibly and freely! You are hard, demanding, condemning, stubborn.
Inwardly, you feel small and dependent but you refuse to outwardly show this gentleness. You feel unstable on your own basis, unsure and afraid; you frenetically keep standing even if it's just for the eye of the others. Perhaps you proudly stick up your chest, but you smother your feelings. Because you don't allow yourself to live freely and joyfully and to fully spontaneously enjoy life, because you resist your gentle heart and longings - you possibly are angry or jealous, critical or judgmental, with people who dare to be joyful and to live without caring about restricting laws. Your spontaneous creativity is not allowed to exist; you live within structures and lines in order to feel something is 'safe'. You hold yourself back; sometimes you don't know what direction to take because you don't trust your intuition and your feelings. With small-minded thoughts you can make your existence very tense and narrow."
The Key to Self-Liberation - 1000 Diseases and Their Psychological Origins,
by Christiane Beerlandt
And this is where and how one can find flexibility:
- Dare to fully take hold of life with both hands.
- Allow those healthy primitive forces to come through, and feel that strong inner basis of your everlasting Living-self.
- Dare to be yourself: dare to get angry; free those feelings, no longer suppress those emotions.
- Listen to your wishes. Don't deny yourself joy.
- A human being doesn't fit into a framework: follow your nature, don't satisfy the expectations of laws and people, but the demands of your heart!
Some of these were limiting programs running in my subconscious mind indeed.
Cleared them.
What next?
Body Symbology maybe?
Emotional Aspects of Ankles (from said book)
Ankles represent the flexible giving of direction and the taking of new turns. They are a symbol of yourself giving shape of your own life, not letting yourself be dominated by others, but instead, depending on your own authority, flexibly changing direction in your life to bring out that which is most profound inside of you.
Emotional Aspects of Knees
Knees are a symbol of the power of your inner perseverance, of placing yourself in the centre in a strong and compelling way. Knees represent the ability to flexibly bend in life, surrendering to your deepest Self without resistance, willingly allowing yourself to glide on the path of true evolution. Knees also symbolise the power to stand up for oneself, not just allowing others to bend you.
Emotional Aspects of Hips
Hips are the supporting power of your being, the structure, the solid lines you set up, after which you choose one well-determined direction in a resolute and self-aware way. Calmly standing still, considering yourself, in order to finally fo outward with power and flexibility, without hesitation.
The common problem here is choosing... "Am I allowed to choose this path for my happiness or shall I sacrifice myself for others?" and as a result the choice is not made, energies are held back.
Emotional Aspects of Lower Back
This is the place of the ultimate feeling of safety. This is the centre of the belief and trust in your inner power.
Money worries, loss of a friend, of material things, no acknowledgement in your work, not being admired for your outer appearance or for your productivity, result in complaints in the lower back because you place the certainty outside of yourself!
- Dare to let your own light shine and radiate! Don't feel small and insecure, don't ignore your worth.
- Be proud of yourself, of who you are and who you are becoming.
How does this apply to me?
Some of this information rings well true about me. After all the years of personal development work I have invested in myself, it is now the time to start living in my own truth, for real, 100%. I still catch myself thinking that I am not enough, that I can't choose between the options or when I choose one path, I then regret that I didn't choose the other and this brings on guilt... No wonder my aches and pains appear at a time of transition from the perception of security (a full-time job) to the perception of instability, volatility and insecurity of self-employment. This is obviously all in my belief system, not the actual state of things, so changing of these perceptions will be the only way to get rid of the stiffness.
Changing perceptions is my specialty.
Two ways: PSYCH-K and Essential Oils.
Easy!
So what oils?
I have been using these three with good results previously but now, after all the above considerations, it is all starting to make good sense.
Copaiba essential oil has been known for relieving pain. Emotionally, it helps to set aside the fake roles we have been identified with. Gets rid of feelings of inadequacy, guilt, shame, past hurts, self-loathing etc. But it also helps to stop worrying about the future. Copaiba invites courage to look inward and see what is there that is painful. As you see it, you can transform these old stories of victimhood and woundedness. This oil helps you to see the beauty and glory of who you are and what amazing choices you can select from life.
Lemongrass cuts to the chase. It is all about purification. It removes the ego and so you can see others as equals. It allows inspiration to come loud and clear through reducing distraction. "The way before me is clear"
Wintergreen teaches us to trust courageously. It helps us surrender the need to assert control, allows us to stop beating ourselves up and experience self-love and self-acceptance.
Bergamot will make a good addition to this trio but I will use it topically on my ankles and knees in winter times only when I don't expose the skin to the direct sunlight after its application.
Conclusion:
With or without essential oils, with or without PSYCH-K, our pains and aches (stiffness) can be healed, properly, only if we heal the source of the dis-ease, the reason for the dis-comfort and the trigger point. Heal that and all stiffness disappears.
Maybe you agree with some or all of what I have shared here. Maybe you disagree. I would like to know your opinion, regardless.
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