The air in Portland has been rough. I did pretty well for the first week and then whew. I felt kinda sad and jittery.
Both make sense.
When you’re exposed to smoke, your fight-or-flight response kicks into gear. It screams inside of you, ‘Get me out of here’. Then, when you don’t heed it’s advice, you get an underlying nervousness inside.
Grief also makes sense since in Chinese Medicine, grief is the emotion of the lungs.
We’ve had so much grief this year…loss of life, loss of routines, loss of personal connections, loss of fun activities, loss of beloved leaders, and then…loss of clean air.
If you’ve feeling grief, the first thing to do is to make sure it’s yours.
Check in and literally ask yourself, “Does this belong to me?”
If it’s not yours, see if either dissipating from your system or send it down into the earth.
Those of us connected to earth energy will also be feeling the grief of the earth as she burns and blows in hurricanes and causes earthquakes.
The earth’s energy is too big for us and it’s not actually ours.
If you’re holding grief for the earth, give it back.
She is all powerful and will transmute it into something more beautiful.
Our “negative” energy is actually helpful energy for the earth, like CO2 is helpful for plants.
Once you’re clear that the grief in your body is yours, take a moment to find it. Where are you holding onto it. What does it look like? Does it have a color or shape?
Next, see if it will move and then send it right down a grounding cord back into the earth. If that doesn’t work, see if it will blow up or break apart into small particles. Stay present and patient and the energy will move.
When our lungs are affected by this much smog, grief is almost inevitable.
I hope this gentle exercise helps it move so it doesn’t become too oppressive.
If you need help, consider an online session with me or come and see me in my Portland clinic.
I’d love to hear about your experience. Please comment below and share this with your sisters who might also be feeling the grief.