Markets are tanking. Weather events are cancelling flights. Prices are skyrocketing. This is the Lord’s work, but probably not the Lord you’re thinking of. Lord Shiva, the destroyer. Clearing the fields for a new, better season of crops to come.
Do you believe you’re alive at this time for a purpose? Or are we here to grieve what was lost, while suffering through catastrophic change? I’m here to remind you it’s the former (purpose). And the latter (suffering) pushes us forward. Let’s chill the hell out together.
Cycle Down
We can’t receive the sweet relief of chilling out, unless we cycle down. But before we can cycle down, we need to see how cycled up we’ve become. Like when your phone battery hits 20% red zone while traveling. What’s the first thing you do? Maybe too many apps are open. Each of these suck power.
You close the first, only to realize another 15-20 apps are still open. This is the default setting of most of our brains. We might close “the work app” around dinner time, only to leave open “existential threats”, “tax season”, or the “stress about visiting our parents” apps.
Compartmentalizing hides the fact: something is sucking our power, and building us toward overload. And this doesn’t only affect our mental body. As our mental load gets too heavy to carry, our emotional body shifts from being a super-power of intuition, to a fragile, whiny baby. Then our physical body follows suit. Mental stress, compounded by emotional fatigue shows up as stiffness, chronic pain, and if left unchecked, disease.
A dear friend says, “I can’t sit still. Never could.” This is concerning, but honest. At least she’s aware some part of her stays cycled up. Even on vacation. Permission to Chill is the art and science of cycling down. But it’s not downshifting, where the engines of our 4 bodies rev up and work harder. We chill (down cycle) consciously, even when everything around us amps up (up cycles). For example, we can breathe deeper, and more steadily. This helps our voluntary nervous system hold the delicate hand of our involuntary nervous system. We go from Speedy Rabbit, back to a gentle deer. No less aware, but with many more options to meet the moment.
And unlike Speedy Rabbit, the gentle deer becomes acutely aware. Present to every potential threat, or trigger. Oneness between the moment, and her abilities to meet it. Speedy Rabbit races thing to thing, never sure why, or what exactly is the goal— beyond survival. Cycle down, and become the gentle deer.
Don’t forget. We are operating in 4 bodies:
Mental Body - Our powerhouse minds run cleaner in the higher gear of superconsciousness, when healthy mental habits take us into flow states. Permission 1: Permission to Chill.
Emotional Body - Our emotional guidance system feels the magic of the world we operate in. Not to let the world take us down, but to move through it with Grace, and compassion. Permission 2: to Feel All the Feels.
Physical Body - Our bodily temple, glowing with vitality. The vehicle we come to trust— will carry us out on bigger stages, with higher stakes. Where Soul takes Form. Permission 3: to Glow in the Dark.
Spiritual Body - Our mighty Soul, 1 with the will of The Maker. Serving the upliftment of all humanity. Beyond the little self, more concerned with The Universal Self. Permission 4: To Glow in the Light.
It’s crazy to say this. I’ve struggled to sleep while traveling in Charleston this week. There’s so much energy moving through. Is it Aries season? Aries in Neptune? My work as a coach and facilitator has taken an exciting turn. I’ve been tapped to step into a Dream Team in the leader development space.
Yesterday I played my songs for a Team of Avengers, who have welcomed me in. I might be the only non-pHD in the room. Global impact has opened since India, and already there are invitations to return. Everything is heightened, and expanded. Will write more about this next week. Sometimes our highs make it harder to Chill.
New Resources on Substack
Next Community Class - Third Thursday each month. Next: 4/17
Science of Chill - Research + neuroscience for the head. 🧠
Art of Chill - Immersive audio, music for the heart. ❤️
Meditation Toolkit - 4 Steps to dial in your phone and get started.
Last week’s video interview with Sacred Business Stories. I go through the agony and ecstasy of working from purpose, and surprise them with debuting a song I wrote in India, ‘River of Light’
You on to something golden boy!