Growing up, we would say prayers for protection. Now as an adult, I reflect on the various forms of protection; such as spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical.
Spiritual Protection, perhaps the simplest and most difficult to understand, can be accessed by asking a higher power for help.
Some may say this borders on "spiritual bypassing," as it requires little of the individual aside from the prayer or ask for protection. You may say things such as "I call on God/the universe/angels/my higher power to support, assist, or protect me now." In my experience, this form of protection often provides miraculous results, as it calls on the unseeable forces of protection that surround and protect us. 'Asking' for help often allows us to be open to it.
However, my experience also proves that pairing this surrender for support with personal action or initiative makes it more effective. This is where responsibility comes into play; how you strengthen your emotional intelligence, mind, and body to feel safe within yourself.
Feeling safe within the emotions is perhaps the most difficult, as we are so often taught to suppress or ignore emotions.
Brenne Brown, who is often known for her research in vulnerability and one of her motto's that "vulnerability is strength," also once noted that while you are still processing deep emotions with yourself and perhaps with the support of people you deeply trust, it is not a good idea to be openly public about them. I believe this is key for emotional protection. Vulnerability is strength; yet, it is imperative to be discerning about vulnerability as well. Oversharing with general acquaintances or even casual friends on matters that require deeper levels of sensitivity may leave you feeling raw and misunderstood. Doing so may also lead to a "rebound closure," because you may come to believe that opening up about personal matters is never a good idea. In reality, opening emotionally is important and can be a beautiful way to heal and inspire connection, but it's important to do so with people you've already built trust with. This could be siblings who know you well, parents you trust, close friends, your partner, or professional healers and therapists,
In cases where an individual finds trusting anyone is a challenge, it is often a good idea to lean on the former spiritual form of protection. You can ask for help or guidance. You may ask, "Who is someone I can open up to on this sensitive or stressful topic in my life?" Perhaps the answer is first to connect with your pet or go to nature, and then slowly as you build trust with the animal, plant, or spiritual kingdom, you can also start to build trust in your person-to-person relationships.
Being discerning about how and when you are vulnerable can save you from toxic or codependent attachments and it is a form of emotional protection.
Mental protection comes in the form of discipline. Setting boundaries on how long you spend scrolling social media, watching television unconsciously, mindlessly listening to news channels that incite fear, or reading articles designed to incite unnecessary emotion to keep you hooked and buying the material. This keeps your mental space clear. Mental protection is also improved through means of learning to meditate in order to keep your mind clear of unnecessary stress.
Unlike emotional protection which is more delicate and may involve surrender or softening to people you trust, mental protection appears in the form of mental training and fortitude.
Physical protection also comes in the form of discipline. This may be the discipline to exercise and increase strength, or the discipline to get enough rest and recover fully. Being physically safe means both your sympathetic (active system) and parasympathetic (rest and relaxation system) are strong and in order. This keeps your internal organs healthy and provides a strong "vessel" to love and express yourself through.
You can see that as you descend the list — from spiritual to physical — forms of protection gradually change from surrender to personal will. This proves there is both a need to surrender and soften as well as practice discipline. This is the balance that keeps you energetically healthy.
Thanks for reading our post! Please like or leave your comments below. If you want more, try our divine interconnectedness meditation on our platform, the Archives. -LB
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