The Nine of Swords (And How We Can Deal with Modern Anxieties)

 

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Thanks to all of you that I've had the chance to sit down with already this week and over this past weekend. Taking this morning to discuss something I've seen in the individuals I've met with recently and that's anxiety. More specifically, how do we deal with it? This will be a relatively short post and one a little different than what I normally do as it has much more broad generalizations than I'm usually comfortable with but since this has been so prevalent over the last week or so, I felt called to address it in a post everyone can read.

Something I've noticed in roughly 8/10 people I've seen in the last week is the appearance of this card; the Nine of Swords. From students, to mothers, to fathers, to the retired and the very not retired, this card has come up more for more people in a short amount of time than I've seen in my career. Anyone familiar with tarot knows this isn't the best omen to receive and reflect on but it typically shows up when we're at our wit's end through physical or emotional exhaustion. When the anxieties become so encompassing that even sleep is no longer a safe haven, and in fact could be the scariest place of all where we face those anxieties head on with no distractions. It represents stress, burdens, negative thinking, and deep unhappiness. Overwhelm, inability to cope with or face situations in life, problems or just life in general has reached a breaking point. So I wanted to take this opportunity to go over several ways we can handle this energy and what to do when this overwhelm settles in the nervous system. Starting with what I'd hope is the most obvious; 1. Less Screentime.+ More Sleep - This should go without saying but the constant stimulus we receive from screens contribute heavily to disrupting our circadian rhythm. The blue light from tv and phones are bad enough as they trick your mind into thinking it has to be active during daylight hours that extend into the evening. But the content we absorb through those screens is even more detrimental. So remove yourself from the polarization, at least temper it with moderation and notice how your nervous system feels with its absence. Do you feel an addictive call to draw you back into something meant to polarize, divide, and ultimately zap your energy away? Or do you feel finally at ease, room to breathe without the constant in-your-face assault of modern social media demanding you internalize some guilt, shame, or responsibility that isn't yours to bear?

Whatever your response is, nothing bad can come from limiting exposure to the toxicities that run rampant in the media. Remember that tug in your nervous system and ask what is really craves by being a part of that drama. This is what I notice most in my sessions, there's almost always an excuse to *not* sleep or a claim of not having enough time to do so. One of the things this tells me is that too many of us are forcing ourselves into sleep out of obligation when our mind is racing with rumination. As simple as it may sound, removing blue light from monitors or LED lights of any kind and replacing those lights with a real fire through candles or even incandescent bulbs will do wonders for your sleep cycle and you may even notice you naturally become tired for the first time in a long time. Which brings us to our next point 2. Fire - Have you ever noticed a sense of relaxation when staring at a flame? That's because fire light directly counters the effects of blue light from screens and the daytime sky. Our ancestors found comfort by firelight and read by candlelight. This nervous system response remains in the human body today, so time spent simply around a burning candle or a fireplace sets our system up for sleep, giving the body a safe place to relax. Reading an actual book by candlelight is one of the most beneficial things you can do before rest and is in fact paramount to the rites and rituals practiced by ancient monks from Zoroastrian to Orthodox. There's a reason they're depicted as reading by candlelight and not out in broad daylight. Firelight tells the body to begin releasing melatonin in the brain, the sleep chemical and powerful natural antioxidant that allows us to not only fall asleep but to restore ourselves during sleep. Without this hormone, we feel the common burnout sensation of waking right after our head hits the pillow.

This is something of a backboard from the previous section regarding screen time but the same principle follows; when we bombard ourselves not only with the social stimulus of our phones and computers, we're keeping our brains in a state of fight or flight, persistently on the verge of being attacked or being the aggressor. Once the sun goes down, that's nature's signal for us to relax, retreat, and repair ourselves for the next day as melatonin begins to secrete naturally from the darkness. So along with limiting screen time at least an hour or so before we intend to rest, allow yourself sometime with a book and a candle, tune out the distractions and the polarizations for the night and let your body do what it does best and rest. This all applies towards regular Sun exposure as well, actively exposing ourselves to the heat and light of the sun allows us to sleep more soundly at night. There's a reason why we naturally like to lay out at the beach or experience a "runner's high" from sweating in the sun. 3. Diet

- It's amazing the amount of brilliant and beautiful people I talk to whose diet primarily consists of sugar and caffeine and they wonder why they're anxious all the time. This is another point that typically goes without saying but the stressors of work and family life make us seek out convenience before nutrition, that's often times a given. Ketosis is rarely considered by most people despite knowing we should likely try our best to eat more whole foods. Collagen is a well known and documented supplement that fights various signs and symptoms of aging and free radical damage. We can get there through nutritional work, sure but that takes time and we can research and dissect what exactly is the best human diet for eternity.

However, the biggest offender and vice of most people's diets seem to be alcohol, without question. And often alcohol is seen as the only reprieve for relaxation, when that's the last thing your body reads from intoxication. Yes, it may numb the pain or the anxieties for the evening but it compounds within the body exponentially over time. Similarly to not healing while we're resting, intoxicants from alcohol, prescriptions, or stimulants all alter our state of mind so we're not incorporating the lesson the anxieties are meant to point us towards. Distractions ultimately are just that and they keep us from being taught whatever the pain we're experiencing is meant to teach us. Not to mention the physical damage these intoxicants can cause but the spiritual damage they lead to simply by keeping us stagnant within our thoughts. So if you're experiencing this intense anxiety and insomnia, don't be tempted by a drink or a pill to put you to sleep just to get through another night. That anxiety is telling you something and a bad diet masks those lessons with immediate gratification.

4. Somatic Exercises

- When someone says "Somatic exercises," typically the response is confusion or dismissal, whether the individual has never heard of it before or can't visualize how breathwork, physical exertion, and entering a flow state could be beneficial for the human body and mind, it's not something generally accepted by the populace. But to me, this encompasses a broad field of physical movement, whether it's yoga, strength training, or learning to sit still, the practice that links all of these actions together is the breath. And ultimately, that's what somatic work really means. We're training our somatic nervous system, the system responsible for our voluntary movement, function, and sensory processing to relax and operate at its best during spikes of adrenaline or stressful situations where our reactions can take hold. Training this system allows us to be in control instead of our autonomic nervous system that takes over when we react to outside stimulus in ways we don't mean or ways we feel out of control over. The same system that regulates digestion and sexual arousal, responses that we *can't* control then become the brain that leads us, the reptilian brain, the primitive, the more materialistic.

So how can we stay in harmony with our somatic nervous system better? Through physical exertion that forces us to control our breathing. Anyone familiar with therapy has likely encountered some of these phrases but actually practicing them like a magician or a mystic might is a little different. We can find a quiet, meditative place, not to clear our mind or force ourselves to think of nothing but to find intention and purpose behind something as simple as our breath. Restrict, don't pull in, breathe, and feel that emptiness that's accompanied by relaxation when we exhale and allow the carbon dioxide to build in our bodies. This outright tells your nervous system to relax and it's evident when your heartrate drops when we exhale. What gets some people is noting when that feeling of exhaling causes panic or anxiety. This tells us your nervous system has equated relaxation or a lowered heart rate with the threat of death. So what do we do in that case? We get ourselves used to that feeling. Teach your body there's nothing to be afraid of and in fact cherish the moments of stillness during those exhales. Witch's Breath is a technique I go over with any clients who book sessions with me for personalized meditations and while somewhat advanced, I recommend everyone at least start with Box Breathing and familiarize themselves with Wim Hof's breathing methods he discusses at length in any podcast or interview he's been featured on.

5. Expend and Create

- This point is likely the most simplistic but it encompasses and incorporates everything we've discussed so far. Often times when people find themselves in deep anxiety, insomnia, ruminating thoughts, or constant information loops, this nervous tension is pointing towards energy that hasn't been expelled. A common defense of this can be something along the lines of, "I don't have any energy left to give, I'm all tapped out." When that's not entirely the truth. You haven't expelled your energy, you've been drained of it. When we leak our energy to things outside of ourselves, a job, a relationship, an image, we're giving, we're not creating. We're giving time and attention that can go to ourselves and what we want to create to something outside of ourselves. That can be why our thoughts loop endlessly, seeking ways to exert this energy that feels exhausting just to hold onto. When we spend every day as a gift and an opportunity to create something for ourselves, something that makes the world a better place than before, the anxieties slip away and are replaced with enthusiasm and determination.

We have a goal, something to get us moving, not just a to do list or busy work or responsibilities given to us by a boss or someone who demands more of our precious time and energy. When we set those responsibilities ourselves, it tells our nervous system that we used our energy wisely today, that we pointed our intentions at something we want to purposefully create, and we need to rest and prepare for the same amount of energy or more the following day to continue our purpose. We're meant to look at every day as a gift from a creator that loves and cherishes us and wants us to create with the same love. When we keep ourselves up late into the night or into the early morning hours, our subconscious, emotional selves are driven mad with inaction or leaking energy. Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies to anyone doing the inner work and we can fight it every day simply by taking decisive action towards creating *something* on a day to day basis. We're not just here to "do" or toil away, our energy is meant to build just the same way the universe around us was created and we just need to tap into that flow state to feel more aligned with the creator. When we know we're living to that potential and we have the capacity to hold it, our system allows us to breathe and relax long enough to rejuvenate so we can go back to our God given purpose the next day instead of living in a state of fear of what's around the corner, stress from our responsibilities, or anxieties around guilt or shame. Whatever it is, those anxieties are not what we're here to feel. We're here to understand the drama outside of ourselves and learn to use our powers to create within the drama that is our lives.