So, lock down is pretty much now upon us…
Awesome right? Time to spend with the kids, spring clean and declutter the house, sort the garden and chill the fork out. On one hand there are sooo many positives to this freak out strange time that we have opted to be living through…
On the other hand, I know that my kids are going to push me to breaking point on more than one (probable thousand) occasion.
So I thought it might be useful to get some master ninja “keep our cool” training in place before we get to that point.
It’s early days, it’s a novelty, we’re still actually liking our children and our stress levels are somewhat normal.
So let’s imagine a week down the line… or two or three or whatever the bleep number of weeks this thing might go on for… The kids have been fighting all morning, you’re trying your best to write a report for work or reply to an important email and you’ve started really missing your parents/friends/freedom…
The bubbles of over thinking and overwhelm have been boiling up for days and you can feel them about to reach breaking point… But you know that by losing it you’re just going to flood your system with the toxic juices of cortisol and adrenaline, batter your immune system, flood your digestive system with acidic poison and give yourself and the kids a headache.
So let’s pause here, take a breath and imagine at this point, that instead of losing it and essentially self harming, you transform yourself and become a master ninja of self regulating.
Imagine that you are able to manage your mind and endocrinological systems and keep your body in a state of confidence, composure and creativity…
Your body stays peaceful and healthy, your children respond with respect to your strength and warrior like composure and you creatively and collectively get to root of the problem and find a solution…
Sounds wonderful does it not..? Now, the truth is that I’m actually the worst mum I know at being able to control my fiery bursts of “shut the funk up!” when it all gets too much, but I also know that I seriously cannot afford to not master this skill in this current lock down situation. My nervous system and mental health (and children!) will not survive if I don’t.
So here are some amazingly helpful and effective ways of becoming a master ninja warrior and keeping your confidence, composure and creativity whatever lock down life throws at you…
#1. Become a Wizard of Opiate Alchemy and Master of Your Own Internal Chemistry
Learning to regulate the balance and release of feel good hormones in your body and stop, or at least dilute, the adrenaline and cortisol released when you do lose your shit is THE most self loving and ninja warrior skill to develop.
Just by using simple techniques such as “the inner smile” you can shift your whole body’s chemistry and save yourself (and family) a lot of hurt and toxicity.
This exercise is super quick and simple:
Just stop and pause for a minute. Now imagine your body is like a child, a separate aspect of you. It’s naive and impulsive, it needs the care and reassurance of a parent figure to help it to rationalise and stay calm in high stress situations. Now imagine you, your mind and consciousness is the loving parental figure here to soothe and encourage the body back into a state of equilibrium.
Imagine as your body starts to react to situations from a place of hurt or fear, getting angry or anxious and ready to scream and shout, visualise your mind acting as a calming loving parent, deity or goddess sending encouraging, compassionate and unconditionally loving thoughts down into your body and belly…
This simple but powerful exercise releases endorphins into your body and dilutes the acidic affect of cortisol and adrenaline…
It may feel like a battle at first as your rage sets in and the adrenaline begins its journey to your blood stream, but the more you learn to pause, detach yourself from the situation and gently focus down into your body with this attitude and intention the easier and more natural it will become.
Each time you choose the warmth of endorphins over the harsh burning of acidic tension, your body will become a lighter, healthier and a place of healing, warmth and vibrancy.
With practice and patience this can become a life saver for yourself and your children!
#2. Stockpile on the Good Stuff and Build an Internal Reservoir of Positive Feelings to Tap into When Needed
One important exercise in learning to be a ninja warrior of Zen in any and all situations is to work through and eliminate any deeply embedded tendencies you have to react to certain situations.
A mammoth task you say? Well maybe not, as the most simple and effective way of changing old pattens and reactions is by simply choosing to focus on the good stuff.
Get deeply familiar with what makes you feel good, what calms your mind and body? What releases endorphins in your system just by thinking about it, looking at it, smelling, touching, hearing it?
These are your Zen warrior tools and the more you focus on them the stronger they get.
Knowing what triggers your internal opiates means that you can consciously think and focus on them more. The more you pause and savour the feelings of joy, contentment and pleasure that they, the good things in life give you, the stronger the hormones released and positive feelings will be.
Spend as much time as you possibly can immersed in the feelings they bring you, really focus on the feeling of joy and allow it to expand and deepen.
These can then be powerful resources to tap into in times of crisis or stress. Build up those internal opiates and endorphins for when you need them next!
Sod the loo roll, stock pile your internal feel good endorphins!
Then when faced with a toddler or teenager drama, when you have no where to run, focus on your opiate triggers and allow the rush of endorphins to help you to stay the fork calm and carry on…
#3. Guard and Protect your Energies Like a Badass
It’s so important at this time to look after your energies. As we well know, we are all vibrational beings, and the vibrations of others and the environment can penetrate our own and make us feel off-kilter.
The aim is to stay strong, centred and stable. One way is to keep grounded both in yourself and to the earth.
Imagine yourself as a tree with strong roots holding you firmly down against any winds that try to knock you.
You can focus down into your belly too and strengthen your Chi or life force. The way martial artists do. The stronger your core and stance, the less effect the winds of life will have on you and the calmer more composed and creative you can be in dealing with a lock down life style.
You can also protect your energy field by either cleansing with sage, incense or sound or setting protective intentions and prayer.
I love the following kundalini yoga protection mantra and listen to it before every coach session I have to protect myself and my clients.
Aad Guray Nameh is a powerful mantra for protection as well as to gain clarity and to receive guidance from one’s highest Self and Guides. This mantra is said to create a protective field of white light energy around you as you chant it. You can feel its power and beauty as you sing it.
“Aad Guray Nameh, Jugaad Guray Nameh, Sat Guray Nameh, Siri Guru Dayvay Nameh”
Here is a YouTube link to a beautiful version by jai-jagdeesh https://youtu.be/iOSMM6jxBMA
It translates to: I bow to the Primal Wisdom. I bow to the Wisdom through the Ages. I bow to the True Wisdom. I bow to the great, unseen Wisdom
You can also meditate each morning and imagine a protective bubble surrounding your body. Surround yourself with a bubble of white, purple, green and pink colours for healing, spiritual growth, love, protection and Divine connection.
You can imagine the same protective bubbles around your children, partner, pets and house too.
#4. Keep the Ninja Warrior Master of Zen Vision in Mind Always
Each morning visualise how you want to be that day. Imagine yourself dealing with situations with calm, patience and Grace.
Imagine facing challenges and role play in your mind how you’d like to respond. Keep playing it over in your mind until it becomes the way you want it.
When faced with challenges during the day go back to your mental rehearsal and tap into that vision. Become the person you’d like to be for yourself and for your children.
If you still lose your shit, spend some time self-reflecting in the evening and visualise how you’d like to respond next time.
Most of all be kind to yourself, it’s a new way of living with new challenges and skills to learn.
But if we can master these new ninja warrior character traits in these strange circumstances, think how amazingly cool, calm and collected we can be back in the real world.
Home-schooling is our school time too!
Let’s channel our inner lionesses and stay courageous, strong and caring and show our cubs how to be warriors of peace and Grace even amongst the challenges of a pandemic.
If you need any help or advice, or you have some tips or success/ funny stories you’d like to share, please do reach out, I’d love to hear from you.
With love and lion heart hugs,
Caya xXx
