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Daily Rituals as a Doorway to the Higher
If you have a longing to connect with something higher, whether it be your higher self or higher powers and beings, one of the simplest ways to connect is by creating a daily ritual for yourself. Whether you meditate, do yoga, read inspirational...
Developing Will Power and Self Discipline
Most people admire and respect strong individuals who have won great success by manifesting will power and self discipline. People in all walks of life, who with sheer will power, self discipline and ambition have improved their life, learned new...
Dieting Effects – Smoking
So you want to lose weight, but you still refuse to quit smoking. Not a good idea. Too many times we get caught up in taking the easy way out of our troubles. We want to lose weight through crash diets, not develop a healthy lifestyle. Most...
How To Walk On The Path Of Peace (Part 1)
As there are silent depths in the ocean, which the fiercest storm cannot reach, so there are silent, holy depths in the heart of man which the storms of confusion and sorrow can never disturb. To reach this silence and to live consciously in it...
Sandalwood Oil - Aromatherapy For The Mind, Body, And Spirit
Sandalwood is one of the world's most widely used essential oils, prized for its scent in perfumery, for its therapeutic effects in Chinese, Ayurvedic and Tibetan medicine systems, and for its ability to center the mind in meditative yogic...
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My Fear of Heights and a Hot Air Balloon
I've been terrified of heights for as long as I can remember and
still I insist on white knuckle experiences.
On occasion I've thought it'd be a great idea for my family and
me to ride in glass elevators, take rides on Ferris wheels
(large or small), check out revolving restaurants atop towers -
not only is this alone terrifying, vertigo also gets thrown in
for good measure. Then there was my absolute fear of flying
which thankfully has been dealt with successfully.
Hot air ballooning is a different kettle of fish. Now I know hot
air balloons fly (sort of) however there are no in-flight
rations, flight attendants, movies, headsets, or pressurized
cabins. There is just a big balloon (also called an envelope - I
paid attention during the pre-flight briefing), a basket, a gas
burner and a group of excited people. To me this was not flying,
more like drifting and floating randomly above the earth.
What possessed me to voluntarily take a hot air balloon flight
I'll never know.
A flight was booked and as luck would have it, perfect weather
conditions. We arrived at the departure point on a cool, crisp
morning before the sun rose. The other passengers had already
arrived and were eagerly awaiting the pre-flight briefing before
take-off.
That was the good bit.
Fear washed through me, it became difficult to breathe, and my
heart was pounding rapidly. It took supreme effort to keep my
panic in check and instead, not wishing to put a damper on
anyone's enthusiasm, tried to appear as nonchalant as possible.
As time for take-off approached my fear intensified. Finally, as
the ropes were released from the basket and the balloon slowly
made its way upward, my knees turned to jelly and the urge to
rid myself of the previous night's dinner became overwhelming.
Totally trapped I silently screamed as we rose higher and higher
from the ground.
What did I do next to overcome this panic?
I changed my state.
I remembered to breathe, and with that was able to centre myself
(knowledge of meditation helps!) to step fully into the present
moment. It also helped to shift my focus and become more
curious, about the purple hills I could see on the horizon.
My focus then shifted to experiencing how serene it was up in
the sky, only occasionally hearing the sound of the burner as it
blasted hot air into the balloon above.
From experiencing this serenity my focus turned to the burner
and
feeling the heat of the flames.
Happy with experiencing what I was, I began asking myself
probing questions about my fear. With each answer I would then
ask "and what is important about that?"
Remaining centred and controlling my breathing, I continued to
answer each question fully to myself until there was nothing
left to ask.
From answering my own questions I discovered my fear was based
on the fact that there was no jet engine, steering wheel, seat
belts, escape chute and we were in a basket attached to a really
big balloon!
From those answers I then:
*Determined that the likelihood of disaster was minimal to nil.
*Knew the present moment was the safest place for me.
*Future paced me. I imagined myself eating my champagne
breakfast with the other passengers after the balloon flight,
and retelling my story.
*Realised I was actually having an experience of a lifetime
which I probably will never do again and decided to make the
most of it.
Not only that, the captain seemed to know what he was doing
(always encouraging), I knew the equipment was in great shape (I
had a good look), and there was someone following the balloon in
a vehicle below.
Taking several deep breaths, I refocused on my internal world
and connected with peace again, silently giving thanks to my
years of meditation practise.
At last I was able to truly enjoy this exhilarating experience!
The peace and tranquillity above the earth with the sun rising
in the East, and the green rolling hills below was absolutely
awesome - I was in heaven!
Being in the present moment, focusing on controlled breathing,
as well as becoming centred helped enormously in dealing with my
anxiety. Not only that by asking the question "and what is
important about that?" got to the heart of my fear.
Try asking yourself that question sometime when a need crops up.
You might be surprised as what you discover about yourself.
Michaela Scherr
Transformational Coach
About the author:
Copyright requirements are that it remains with Michaela Scherr
and for the link to be clickable or 'live'. See
http://www.michaelascherr.com
Michaela is a Transformational Coach, certified practitioner of
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), writer and intuitive who is
totally committed to helping others create positive and action
oriented changes to their lives.
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