Autumnal Greetings! Something which feels pertinent to the season is unfolding for me around resilience this Equinox, and I’d like to share. 

Resilience is the ability to bounce back, the capacity to recover. Collectively, many of us are feeling not just a continued sensitivity to our surroundings (political, environmental, energetic), but an acceleration. So this doesn’t feel like a time to be hiding in a cave, nor does it feel like the most auspicious moment for big manifestation. No, right now, as we hover between the midpoint of the maximum light of summer and the dark shadow of winter, we are invited to continue the guided journey inward, together. In order to hold a field of openheartedness amid the sustained intensity of the world, we have to ground even more into radical compassion, especially for ourselves. How great you’re willing to stretch depends a lot on your ability to maintain a flexible alignment. In other words, this moment requires resilience. For those who are up for the growth, it feels like the tests keep getting bigger, which invites both more fear and bigger payoffs, for one and all. Much is being asked of us now and we need to step up our game! 

The Energetics of Autumn

Fall is a transitional time, the comedown after an expansive summer. We move from outward to inward. 

In Autumn, nature makes everything bare. We’re stripped down and prepared for a deeper purification and integration within. Trees lose their leaves and root their energy down into the Earth. Animals fortify themselves with the abundance of the harvest and prepare for rest. In Five Element Acupuncture, Autumn is represented by the Metal/Air element which signifies letting go. Emotionally I find Fall to be an especially potent time for letting go. The stakes are higher, too: If you nourish less-conscious seeds now, they will surely sprout up come Spring. Our ability to adapt to the times, let go, and respond to life with an open heart all come together as we head into Autumn. 

Resilience: Facet of the Fifth Dimension

Beyond changes in linear time, the seasons are metaphors for how we, the collective, and the Earth are ascending.[1] Every lunar cycle and season is a summons for deeper surrender. Much of my work is centered around moving out of fear/third dimensional consciousness into the heart consciousness of the fifth dimension, something I’ve discussed previously. One facet of the fifth dimension is the state of resilience, which determines much of how we experience life. In order to move out of living in fear (3D) to living in love (5D), we must choose to activate our resilience. This act is a huge part of the progression into greater heart-centered consciousness and a way to unlock all the gifts that come from living in greater integration. Like the seasons—the ebb and the flow, the yin and the yang—it’s all moving all the time. How open you are to riding the waves (vs. being pummeled by them) is determined by resilience.

I’m constantly looking for ways in: places where we can blow up a program (the unconscious emotions and actions that are connected to an entrenched belief system) to illuminate more consciousness. This is how I’ve been guided to help myself and others. Resilience is a state of being where I see much potential for transformation. Cultivating resilience is a way into higher dimensional reality. How we adapt and open creates a quantum field of change for others to do the same. In evolutionary biology, adaptation = survival. In terms of conscious evolution, adaptation = soul expansion. Yes, much of our ingrained resilience—or lack thereof, has been conditioned, and like everything else, it’s totally healable.

Here are the main factors that impact one’s level of resilience:

1)     Karma – the lessons we’re here to learn

2)     Genetics – what we’ve inherited from our lineage both energetically and biologically

3)     Attachment – in childhood, our relationship to caregivers and to nature 

4)     Beliefs – what you believe about your situation, e.g., “Being part of a covertly abusive biological family is so painful, how could I ever feel normal?”

5)     Self-care – how you take care of your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs

It’s easy to spot someone with high levels of resilience. They are cool under pressure, seem to exist with relative ease, are engaged with life and aren’t run by fear. Resilient people are tapped into more serenity, grace, and higher vibratory frequency states such as joy and optimism. Some of the happiest and hardiest people I’ve met have been shockingly impoverished, and yet because they live in gratitude they are rich in spirit. True richness lives in the heart and has less to do with external circumstance and more with how you choose to see what you are being given.

This resilience-ease correlation shows up in my own relationship. For example, my natural reaction to conflict is to panic, and I must consciously choose to use tools I’ve cultivated in order to engage my resilience. However, for my partner, responding to conflict isn’t really a big deal—whatever it is, you just handle it. Can you think of some relationships that highlight your level of resilience? 

Here is how I conceptualize the spectrum of Fragility < Resilience:

Can you get a sense of where you fall on the spectrum? Do you feel more like a victim or a survivor, or both? If you’ve been on the path of personal work, you may have two levels: a previous baseline level, which may be different than where you are now. Ten years ago, I was clearly on the fragile end of things, but now I’m usually somewhere in the middle and sometimes in full resilience. Another interesting piece to resilience is that it’s largely perceptual—where your beliefs lie around the resources you possess to respond to life has a huge impact on how resilient you actually are. Remember, energy follows intention. Thought forms create change at the physical level. Can you replace what you feel you don’t have with gratitude?

Nature’s Allies: Herbs and Flower Essences

In addition to challenging our beliefs around our own abilities, there is much support available in the Natural World. Nature provides perhaps the most dramatic metaphor of resilience. After natural disasters, crushing winters, and scorching summers—life finds a way back to proliferation. Some of the physical and emotional presentations of low resilience can show up as: low energy, fatigue, endocrine disruption, weak immunity, and anxiety and depression. Luckily, the plant kingdom is here to assist us! There are so many herbs and foods to support resilience. Some of my favorites:

Root veggies and bone broths – I like to add Astragalus and Sage for added immune support, and Burdock for lymphatic action

Heart Adaptogens – support healthy heart shen and the entire endocrine system, Reishi and Tulsi are my go-to faves

Maca – provides deep adrenal nourishment and boosts energy and mood (make sure to purchase a sustainable variety)

Nervines – always a good idea as encouraging states of presence and acceptance leads us to deeper levels of relaxation: Mimosa, Chamomile, Catnip, Passionflower, Valerian, Milky Oats, to name a few

Trauma and Its Vibrational Signature

We are all trauma survivors to some capacity. Be it early childhood wounding, physical trauma from an accident, vicarious traumatization from a toxic work environment, or emotional trauma from a relationship—we all bear some degree of wounding from the human experience. When we are in distress, the way the distress affects us creates an imprint with its own unique vibrational signature. This looks different for everyone based on one’s level of resilience. What is minimally painful to one person may be extremely distressing to someone else. [2]

Vibrational medicine, or Subtle Energetic Medicine (Acupuncture, Reiki, Flower essences, etc.) are healing modalities that aim to effect change at the vibrational level. This means that they are able to work in very subtle ways, beyond the denser physical realm. They work with the Law of Resonance, which holds that when one thing resonates at a frequency (e.g., trauma), change is possible by either matching or adjusting that frequency. If traditional medicine is the equivalent of putting a band-aid on a wound (a necessary component of treatment, but not necessarily addressing the whole picture) flower essences are the medicine that expands your awareness to see why you hurt yourself in the first place, and how to heal that. It’s a completely different model. Flower essences excel at healing emotional trauma in particular, because emotional trauma is stored very deep within the psyche: in the etheric, emotional, and astral levels of the Self, beyond the physical. Furthermore, all physical pain contains some psycho-spiritual aspect, so finding a way in this way is a powerful conduit for healing and transformation. 

Here are some frequently used flower essences to support resilience at deep levels: 

Bach Chestnut Bud – for understanding karmic implications of patterns, for changing how one responds to conflict

Delta Gardens Marshmallow – allows the heart to soften and get comfortable opening to difficult situations

Bloesem Essences Peppermint – strengthens during challenging times, helps you deal with life on a higher level

Flower Essence Society Garlic – “resilient and vital response to life” 

Flower Essence Society Sierra Primrose – gratitude for all life, regardless of circumstances

Alaskan Essences Willow – helps you take accountability in difficult situations

Alaskan Bog Blueberry – for seeing the abundance in all things and receiving with gratitude

Alaskan Spiraea – “feeling unsupported by life; placing limitations on how support will be allowed into our lives; attachment to the way things are, even if they are not to our liking; encourages unconditional acceptance of support from all sources”

Conclusion

I’m holding myself to the test to become more radical in my resilience. At the causal level, where pure ideas become reality, the beliefs I hold about my own resilience become what manifest. What I can handle becomes what I am given. There are inherited traits, and there is also the practice of overriding what has been written. The darker the cave, the brighter our hearts must shine to help lead others into the light. This season I invite you to consider how to support your own resilience for the present and the times to come. 

__________________________________

[1] The Seasons themselves are changing globally due to climate change. Perhaps this is yet another metaphor for the shifts within the collective? 

[2] This fact reminds us we must have compassion for all, and we shouldn’t presume to know what level of pain people are in or can tolerate.