People who come to see me are often experiencing a difficult period in their lives. Difficulties we all face in life as the result of challenges within families, health issues, social interactions and societal pressures often result in our becoming ungrounded and subjected to inflexible mental thinking and a body patterned with tension and blockages.

This can bring out aspects in us that we may have experienced in the past or that we thought we had moved beyond. We can be thrown back into habits that we thought we had overcome – pettiness, irritation, fixations and frustrations.

From the depths and darkness of these situations the Care I provide can enable people to switch on their light to illuminate a way forward. This requires active surrender.

When most people hear the word surrender, they think of something negative: giving up, losing, being humiliated, or allowing yourself to be controlled or perhaps even imprisoned. However, when used in our context, surrender also means to give up but here it’s to give up everything that no longer serves you. To stop struggling against the things you cannot change, let go of the smallness of life, and more fully embrace its totality.

Active surrender is when you stop forcing solutions on situations you can’t control and instead trust and have faith in your ability to adjust, adapt and cope. It’s stepping out of all limitations, expanding beyond your usual conditioning, and opening to infinite possibilities. And it requires active commitment.

 “Surrender is a gift that you can give yourself. It’s an act of faith. It’s saying that even though I can’t see where this river is flowing, I trust it will take me in the right direction.” Debbie Ford

The ego loves to control everything. It creates the boundaries and limitations in which you imprison yourself. Surrender allows you to break free and step into the wisdom of uncertainty. With surrender, you can connect fully with your source where the whole universe collaborates to support you. You can become calm, eternal, infinite, joy-filled, and fearless.

Active surrender has the following qualities: Faith, Patience and Awareness.

Faith

Faith is a state of total confidence and respect for all things. To fully surrender, you must have faith in yourself. No need to think of anything else but your connectedness to the Universe. Faith helps you accept everything—the good and bad equally.

Patience

You also need patience. The patience to allow things to unfold naturally with the understanding that everything you need will come your way at the perfect moment. Faith and patience complement each other. Each is both: the cause as well as the effect of the other. They are the means as well as the end of the other.

Awareness

Active surrender requires you to be aware. You need to remain focused and diligent, and overcome any doubts. While the normal concept of surrender is one of contraction, active surrender is one of expansion. The more you surrender, the more your awareness expands.

Letting Go and Changing from Within.

The first step towards active surrender is to become aware of the difference between the things you cannot change and the things that you have some control over. Making positive choices enabling you to practice the 3 qualities mentioned above requires self-awareness and care.Take the time to settle into quieter levels of the mind, reconnect with your essential self and assess your bodily discomfits and tensions. 

Take the time to settle into quieter levels of the mind, reconnect with your essential self and assess your bodily discomfits and tensions.

Increasingly in my work I am seeing people who have made the active choice to surrender to a higher level of awareness. I believe that I am assisting them in their journey.

It is indeed a paradox that a choice to focus on a bigger picture begins with a focus on a smaller one………….a person’s individual awareness and care of themselves!

Photo: Macedon Ranges from Bundaleer Homestead