Returning to the Spirit of Water to Reduce Stress
By Sita Daavetila, Across the Water
Water plays a deeply mystical role in the human story, and in the story of the universe itself. It has been told in many creation stories that water was God’s first manifestation — in the ever-expanding quest to understand Itself. Water was created to be the living reflection, and the memory bank of the entire universe that is otherwise known as the Akashic Ocean.
To deepen our relationship to water, is to deepen our contemplation of Self.
Everyone has an early childhood story that frames their relationship with water, and if they are willing to look deep enough into that water — they may find an aspect of their inner being there. Of course, we are not all water people, but we are all born from water. It is the element that quite literally holds us as our soul moves into a physical form. Water is alive, and not surprisingly, it is a highly evolved consciousness, that is perceiving you perceiving it inside of your body this very moment. We are mostly water, (> 70% including intracellular water), as is every living thing that is known to man. I believe that water is where spirituality and science will merge in new and deeply profound ways in the coming years. These advancements will expand our consciousness, improve our health, advance technology, and perhaps most importantly return humanity to the vitality of living life in tune with nature.
It’s no secret that the intensity of ’these times’ isn’t letting up and is a hard-won escape. Stress is a normal response to this intensity, but is obviously damaging to our bodies, our minds, and our capacity to live happy lives. Stress is an energy field; on the reactive side it is total chaos. Alternately on the repressive side it is the feeling of being stuck. Spiritual science suggests that stress is actually a collective pressure, and not a personal pressure. Indicating that stress is a low frequency aura that exists in our shared environments and is proliferated by the billions of us who are bustling about, stressed out on the surface of this planet. This is a critical distinction, because if we seek to reduce stress, we must understand the energetic and spiritual mechanisms that are creating this vibratory field.
The key to escaping stress in our outer environment, is to change the inner landscape. From a purely psychological perspective, fear (namely how we respond to fearful thoughts) and mental anxiety are common manifestations of a stress response. When we make decisions and respond to life from a fearful or anxious place, we perpetuate the cycle and negative feedback loop of the very thing we are trying to escape! For that reason, a higher frequency pathway out of stress is through the cultivation of inner stillness. This is the observation (imagination) of an inner waterline that is a pool of spacious, still, and sacred waters. When we allow our awareness to rest there until we perceive a reflection of still waters, we are actively reorganizing the mental looping patterns of fear, anxiety, and trauma. Leaving the environment of stress may not be an option every day, but feeling and tuning into our inner water line is downright necessary to navigate life today.
If inner stillness sounds interesting but doesn’t feel natural or come easily, I recommend letting nature guide you. A quiet cross-country ski, a bath, staring at a sunset or a stream, or even watching steam roll off a hot cup of tea are all ways to begin to attune to stillness. It must feel good to find your waterline and be a rewarding place to visit. Once I found where the water line was on my body, (just below my clavicle (collarbone)) I found that I could tune into it easily. In my personal practice, often my waters are not still at all, and require some moments of deep breathing, silence, and inner observation before the chatter returns to a calm state. The reward that I feel from reaching inner stillness is that I am in tune with my nature, I ask for, and receive all sorts of wisdom, I’m able to hear my heart (soul) speak to me, and most of all I have an irrevocable tool to control my mental stress response to the challenges of life.
This fall I held a weekend gathering for women called Across The Water, that was all about spiritual growth, community, and cultivating the inner being for the outside world. I was deeply moved by the many women who spoke (Dr. Charlie!) and so many other incredible healers, spiritual teachers, and women in our community. We are already planning our next gatherings for 2023, and if you are interested in future gatherings (for men and women), sign up for the newsletter at www.acrossthewater.co.
A note about the author:
Sita is a mystic who uses the physical realm of water to reach inner and outer dimensions. She coaches women and men through spiritual growth, produces events, and shares about all of it in her podcast (Stories of Water). Check out more about her work at www.storiesofwater.life.