Recently, I got some aromatherapy oils as a gift. Now, they sit on my bathroom mirror and each morning I see them when getting ready for the day.
The choices I am offered are: happy, energy & focus.
I take a moment and choose what my intention of the day will be. I put some drops on my wrists or temples, take a breath and continue with my day.
BUT, DOES THIS BRIEF ACT OF PUTTIN ON OIL MAKE ME HAPPY OR FOCUSED?
AN EXTERNAL FACTOR WON’T GET ME WHAT I WANT
I don’t believe a drop of lemony oil on my temples will make me happy. But it is a possible crutch, a strategy that allows me to wake up this feeling in my body. I can use it for having a more embodied experience of what I want. And I might even realize that I don’t need to do anything specific to get it. It’s simply enough to remember, choose consciously, live intentionally. Every morning, I can wake up the quality or state of being. It’s just dormant. So there might be qualities that seem more easily available and others that I can’t identify with. I am convinced that everything is already here, inside our beings. To activate and own a quality, the first step is to choose consciously and intentionally.
GETTING OUT OF THE RUT
Because we’re all creatures of habit, it often escapes us that there are many things we can choose for ourselves. Strategies are excellent helpers in reminding you that you can choose every single moment. Anything that works for you can be a strategy.
In my experience, choosing a physical anchor and a sensation are extremely effective.
You don’t even have to bring anything along. It’s always with you.
STRATEGIES ARE CRUTCHES
The aromatherapy oils can be seen as placeholders for all kinds of strategies: yoga, coaching, meditation, mindfulness practices, going to the gym after work to release the stresses of the workday.
One of the most important aspects that I always intend to make clear in my work with clients is that tools and practices are just crutches, strategies, and it’s important to not confuse them with your being, your awareness.
You can have a perfectly good life without meditating or using aromatherapy oils. If they are useful tools for you to become more of yourself or regain a quality you want to have more present in your life, it’s a fabulous thing.
STRATEGIES change in the course of life
Our bodies are a constantly changing. So is the world around us. It’s quite natural that to be able to move with the flow of life and our personal development, we will need different strategies along the way.
Strategies are like the raft in Buddha’s parable. They are easily confused with the goal or state of being. They merely allow you to learn and become yourself. However, because in our learning experience the thing and the state of being are so closely connected and because we are used to looking for explanations and confirmation in the outside world, there is a tendency to hold on to a strategy that has served us but is no longer needed.. And as a result, we run the risk of outsourcing our confidence and trust in ourselves to the strategies that allowed us to reach a state of being or a goal.
If you feel like investigating this subject more in depth for yourself, you’re invited to answer the following questions:
- What strategies have worked for you?
- What do they allow you to be or become?
- Have you experienced that some strategies have served their time and others have appeared instead, allowing you to take another step forward on your journey?
As always, you’re invited to share our thoughts or ideas on the subject.
Some time ago I was introduced to the concept of introducing and holding a ‘quality’ and observing how it held myself differently when I consciously invoked that feeling. It was recommended to work with that quality for around about a year. Several years later – I am still working with the quality ‘balance’. I have discovered that there are so many layers and dimensions of ‘balance’ that I imagine I could work with this quality for the rest of my life and there would remain aspects of ‘balance’ I had not yet touched.
When I work with others on a strategy or quality to invoke more of in their lives I often suggest the quality ‘ease’ …. who wouldn’t want things to be a bit easier? It’s certainly an easy one to start playing with.