To be free from stress and anxiety without medication, a shift is needed in the way we perceive ourself. By shifting our perception from what we do (doing) to who we are (being), we access, experience and express the power of life, freeing ourself from fear.
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What is being?
Being is a pleasant experience of life that is not affected by what’s happening outside of us or what people think of us. That state of being is beyond thought and feeling. It is awareness and life itself. When we are in the state, we are free to experience intuitive guidance. We are free to experience synchronistic perfection. We are free to experience unconditional love, peace, ease and joy.
To see what it means to “be,” I’ll share my story.
One of the things I do, is create weekly articles. When I think that these articles are something I need to do, my awareness of being with the process evaporates. When being is gone, the doing becomes all about forcing and pushing myself to: work, research, write, edit, help, present. Doing, without being, is not where the joy lives.
Being may result in doing.
By maintaining my awareness of being, I may in fact: research, write, edit, help and present. The results however, are not done by trying, pushing or forcing. The results of doing come naturally, as a result of being. And, my experience of being, shines through and into my articles, products and services. This allows readers and viewers to experience my being through genuineness, authenticity, and the real truth and joy of what I am experiencing. So, instead of having a to-do list to bring you this article, I am being, then doing. This allows me to share the joy, truth and laughter of my experience of being. It also allows me to create and share this article. Can you sense the difference?
What is Doing?
Doing is behavior—an action. The action may appear as a thought, word or deed. The intention doing without being, is simply to get a result.
To “DO” is not to “Be.”
Doing can overtake our awareness of being. When this happens, we may feel the need to “do something” in order to “be OK.” We may recognize ourself as a “doer,” if we enjoy telling people everything we did today. And, if we use terms like, “I’m bored,” or “what’s next” or “I just can’t sit still,” those can also be signs of a doer. Or, we may have a day that’s so full that we “can’t” or don’t notice the pleasant everyday things like the sunrise, birds, trees, flowers, because we are “so busy.”
Are you a doer?
One way to know if we’re a doer is to ask ourself this question, “Do I feel like family, friends and co-workers come to me when they want me to “do” something? And, do I feel like they avoid ‘being’ with me?” If so, we may be presenting ourself to others as someone who can “do.” While also not presenting ourself as someone who is in tune with being, and life (we may show passive-aggressive neediness, clingy behaviors, or some other type of unpleasantness).
If we’re a doer, we are at risk of stress, depression and missing out on life.
Although doing can be physically productive, focusing on getting things done can lead to fearing never being good enough and never getting enough done. And fearing that we may be abandoned if we aren’t doing enough of what the other person wants.
Physical symptoms of over-doing.
If we’ve been a “do-er” for a while, we may see some of the following physical signs and symptoms, as listed by the Centers of Disease control and prevention: high blood pressure, shortness of breath, lethargy, overconsumption of food and alcohol, drug use, depression, anxiety, heart attack, emotional outbursts, heart disease, stroke and thoughts of suicide.
To “Be” or just to “Do?” that is the question.
If we define ourself by our physical accomplishments—also known as what we do, we may neither be aware of being, nor its benefits. We may be like the person described by the famous spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle. He said, when people are presented with the opportunity to explore and experience being, doers will ask him, “Being? What do I do with it?’”
I chose to explore and experience being.
Not because I fully understood being or its benefits, but because I knew that I no longer wanted to experience life in a stressful way. Rather, I wanted to experience being as I saw it presented through living masters like Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, Krishna and others.
It’s possible to be and do.
When I am in the state of being while doing, I am open to receiving the wisdom of intuitive guidance about what to do and when, which I find preferable.
So how can we shift our self-perception as a “do-er” into being?
Here are 4 Tips to shift from doing to being
- Release the tension in our system. With too much tension, we can’t focus, so the first thing we need to do is release. This can look different for everyone. For me, this begins by saying, “I release all muscle tension.” It also means enjoyable and healthy exercise, meditation, breathing techniques, nutritious food, time in nature, dancing, swimming, kindness and sexuality. To me, releasing tension also means releasing of the after-effects of past trauma, which I’ve done for many years and continue to do through awareness, energy work, inner child work and journaling. All these things I do, while being, create fulfillment, health and joy.
- Notice when we are doing without being. How many of us do, do, do and aren’t aware of this? For just one day, notice as many things as possible that have nothing to do, with what we are doing—such as nature, the beating of our heart, love, etc.
- Get curious about our thoughts. Watch and listen to thoughts as they arise. For me, this meant paying attention to my thoughts about doing activities, chores, completing tasks, writing lists of tasks, and getting to the next task. By noticing when I fall into “doing,” I can stop, drop my energy into my heart, and roll back into being. I also found that writing my thoughts in a Will You journal helped give me a place to express and release tension.
- Get curious about our feelings. Ask ourself, “How do I feel?” at least once an hour or as often as possible every day. For me, I noticed that writing to-do lists was like binge eating. It felt good at the time, but it felt bad after. The list was a temporary fix to make me think that I was going to accomplish something. However, the lists grew longer and began to define my experience of life. I felt more anxiety, stress, worry or fear when I was thinking about doing the lists, and, the fact that there is always more to do and it never gets completely finished. By being aware of my feelings, when I felt bad, I could redirect my attention back to being, and feeling better.
If we feel unworthy of simply being and getting to know ourself better …
Remember and repeat our three affirmations from the last eight weeks:
- I do matter.
- I am worth knowing.
- I am important.
Rather than fighting, fleeing, stuffing or drowning ourself to escape our never ending to-do list …
We can create a safe, inner-place to grow, know and learn. By doing so, we neither look to others, nor lean on them, to teach us. This allows us to learn from within. This allows us to simply share life and love with others, rather than needing something from them. When we experience being through self-care, we allow and give ourself the love and care that we seek.
Will You?
I encourage you to know and love being. No one can do this for you, and by doing so, you’ll always know that somebody cares. Let us know how applying today’s concepts works for you! We enjoy hearing from you 🙂
And, heads-up on our Will You tour dates: this May we’re invited back to South Carolina so I’ll be sharing those May dates and locations on our next article! In the meantime, any Sunday in April, we’d love to see you in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Will You Grow, Love and Adventure Brunch Series at Knoxville’s Luxury Venue—Ancient Lore Village! Advance tickets are required, so check out the event video next, for all the delicious details and book your tickets for future fun with us any and every Sunday in April!
Always with love,
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