Today I want to share some wisdom from one of the most influential teachers
Douglas Brady (Balbhadra)
in my life, Douglas Brady.
He died suddenly and peacefully this summer, and I’ve been flooded with all the wisdom he imparted to me in the 23 years that I knew him.
As a mom, you know all about teachers. You are one. In fact, you are the most important teacher your child will ever have. But as we grow up, we find new teachers, and some take up residence in our hearts, souls, and in our actions.
Douglas Brady was that kind of teacher for me. He taught me that our body is our most powerful teacher. He taught me about deep listening within, and about bringing all that we want to hide away, into the light. He held open the door for me to step into my very best self. He helped me heal my own body, mind and spirit, and taught me how to help others.
Today’s article is a blend of some of his more recent articles. I want to share his words with you as a way of honoring him, marking his place in my life, and enriching yours.
His writing about living in a go go, fight-or-flight mode speaks directly to the experience of being a mom and always being “on” for everyone else. Douglas eloquently and simply states the antidote to our 24/7 life with his 3 spiritual keys to healthy living.
The article below is my edited blend of several recent articles written by Douglas Brady – Healer, Teacher, Therapist and founder of the Psychology of Symptoms. I met Douglas when I first lived at Kripalu 23 years ago. I knew immediately that I wanted to study with him and I never stopped learning from him. My work with him has deeply shaped the work that I do.
The Fight-or-Flight Response &
The Three Spiritual Keys to a Healthy Life
Our culture is one of chronic hurrying, and as such, we are a society trapped in the fight-or-flight response.
The fight-or-flight response is the primitive automatic response that prepares the body to fight or flee from perceived attack, harm or threat to our survival. This response is hard wired into our brains and represents a genetic wisdom designed to protect us from bodily harm.
The fight-or-flight response is intended to be a short term response to a particular threat, originally physical in nature. But everyday I see people locked in the fight-or-flight response. Is their breathing constricted, their heart rate increased, their cortisol levels high because of a physical danger they encountered? Of course not.
So what is this lurking danger that has many of us locked in chronic fight-or-flight response?
It’s the belief that we are not OK, that we are not going to survive unless we adapt in some way, unless we control, over-give, deny our needs, try harder, work harder, suppress our feelings, be good, please, or self-sacrifice in some way.
Living with a toxic, inaccurate belief system that continues to feed you the message that you are not safe and/ or OK has a high cost. Digestive disorders, headaches, chronic fatigue, inability to let go emotionally, sexually and physically – and so many more – are all effects of remaining in fight-or-flight.
The human body is not designed to live in a fight-or-flight response. The body is designed to be an instrument, a medium for the transmission of exactly what we need to hear, know and to grow. We are constantly receiving guidance through our bodily sensations and inner voice.
Our body is a perfectly designed biofeedback system. The problem is that no one has given us the manual on how to listen to, and interpret the signals.
So how do we get out of fight-or-flight – out of this survival behavior – and back to our inner knowing?
The 3 Spiritual Keys for Healthy Living…
The First Spiritual Key:
Live your life as a surrender to “what is” rather than an attachment to what you want it to look like.
The latter inquiry will bring on the fight-or-flight response. Hopefully you are getting a sense that this is not a pleasant place to hang out. There is an organized intelligence that guides our lives, more specifically, one that gives us exactly what we need to evolve, allowing us to surrender to our inner voice. Let go of your personal agenda, your story, your personal preference, and get quiet in order to hear the broadcast clearly.
In order to hear your mind’s inner voice, the entire body, and the nervous system must be in a relaxed state. Breath, be, and love – that is enough.
The Second Spiritual Key:
Know when to let go
Letting go is the single most under rated strategy on the planet. If we could all just know when to let go, there would be no headaches, or wars.
We need to let go of all the fear-based thought patterns, limiting beliefs, stress patterns, false concepts and perceptions we have of reality – that distance us from our true nature – and keep us in a perpetual fear based fight-or-flight syndrome.
Symptoms are not something to be gotten rid of, they are something to be lovingly listened to. A symptom, is in essence saying “My fear based pattern is no longer working.” Examine it, challenge it, and give it up to the Divine. It takes a little courage, a little common sense, and a lot of love.
The Third Spiritual Key:
Master the art of self-love
Let’s go for: Love our selves – ALL of our selves!
Whatever the problem, self-love is the answer.
Self-love is the purest medicine that soothes wounds and awakens the heart and soul.
Imagine an inner world where only love and acceptance resides, where wars do not exist. Embrace and imagine the freedom to love, feel fully loved by “You,” and then imagine further, your precious soul gifts blossoming and sending themselves all over your world in living color!
~~~~~~~~
Thank you Douglas for all your wisdom and love. I miss you.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, LMT is the Smokin’ Hot Mom Mentor and Family Wellness Expert. She’s the founder of SmokinHotMom.com and HealthyYummyKids.com. She helps busy moms look and feel their best, and helps them feed their kids well in a world that doesn’t.
Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.
She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.
Nina’s Body-Peace® work is all in service of helping people get off the diet roller-coaster, and into a compassionate and powerful way of eating & living which creates a positive long-lasting change in and with their bodies. Her courses, coaching, poems and Body-Peace APP positively change the conversation that women are having with their body.
Start your Body-Peace® journey with this free masterclass that will help you understand and shift your relationship with your body.
The human body is not designed to live in a fight-or-flight response. The body is designed to be an instrument, a medium for the transmission of exactly what we need to hear, know and to grow. We are constantly receiving guidance through our bodily sensations and inner voice.
