Think of your body as it's own complete 'kingdom' - a unique landscape formed by a combination of physical attributes, emotional, mental, spiritual and of course energetic.
The great designer in the sky gave us many ways to protect the well-being of each aspect of our own personal kingdoms. In particular two 'Gatekeepers' - one an 'Inner' and one an 'Outer'.
In this blog I'm going to talk briefly about your OUTER GATEKEEPER, in relationship to reprogramming to help support you form new healthy habits via affirmations.
She patrols your outer border and is essential for your survival as she reacts instantly to any threat from the outside - she kept our ancestors primed and ready to combat the danger of a lurking sabre toothed tiger. They listened and reacted to her instructions without question. If they didn't you might not be sitting there right now.
Fast forward to the 21st century and we find that very often our Outer Gatekeeper (OG) can easily become confused by the overwhelming stimuli of our modern day living. She may perceive a traffic jam, bad tempered boss, broken washing machine, in fact any of the 1001 stressful situations we encounter in our daily lives, as the same level of threat as that sabre toothed tiger. Our bodies still react on an involuntary basis to her instructions, so we can be in a constant state of 'red alert' set by our OG, with no moments of respite and replenishment. She means well, she just lacks a degree of discernment in judging what really is a survival threat and what is just a passing 'irritant'.
So you can begin to see that the benefits of getting your OG calmed down and recognising that not everything is a threat, is invaluable to the health of every single part of your personal 'kingdom'.
In particular, as a Weight loss Warrior - she's important as she governs HABITS and certainly for me, my weight gain is a lot to do with bad habits - naughty, naughty Maddie!
You can imagine, if she's on red alert she's not going to be listening your your reprogramming affirmations, however many times you make them, of that you can be sure.
What can we do to turn those bad habits back to good ones?
First stop is to talk to your OG, or as she's called in the Oriental tradition: Triple Warmer/Burner and is viewed as Yang, or masculine, so I should be calling him 'him', although I always visualise her as a female in touch with her masculine! The Inner Gatekeeper is most definitely Yin and feminine, but that's another conversation.
How can you get her to calm down and listen to your affirmations/new instructions/reprogramming?
Here are a few tried and tested ways that really work for me.
Try them all and choose one that seems to work for you.
Use it in conjunction with your affirmations. It will mean your OG is calm and able to 'hear' your instructions, take them in, respond and begin to create good habits that will empower your self care and weight loss.
Suddenly she'll be helping rather than sabotaging your efforts to be the best you can be. She'll be in touch with her own special, extraordinary 'radiance' and weight loss really will become easier.
Advance warning: she'll need daily attention for 21 days but also revisit at about 6 weeks, she can sometimes temporarily 'relapse' around then.
We have to also bear in mind our Elemental, Sensory and Astrological type as this will have a bearing on how your OG reacts ...... so working with her is really a voyage of self-discovery and a worthwhile one - you won't regret it.
Lets's start with some of the simplest techniques and I'm a huge believer in that it DOESN'T have to be long, complicated and difficult to work - if something gets the desired result quickly, simply and efficiently, use it. Why make life difficult?
OUTER GATEKEEPER MUDRA
Holding the TW finger [on both hands] in this mudra positioning, instantly plugs you into your TW energy.
Sit quietly, holding the hands like this – breathing normally, smile gently and thinking, or saying out loud your affirmation.
A variation is to move the thumb up to the nail.
Do this for a minute and feel the difference in your thought process and ability to make a healthy choice.
If you do it enough times, you'll just have to form the mudra and your energy will do the rest almost instantly.
Possibly the one I use most is CALMING THE CENTRE
Place your left hand over the heart area - this connects you to the powerfully harmonising heart-energy
Using the middle finger of the right hand - represents your Inner Gatekeeper, Heart Protector who is the Yin partner to your OG and balancing partners in this way is efficient.
Tap over the base of the knuckles between little and ring fingers - this is a powerful TW/OG point that can bring balance AND the vibration penetrates down through to the Thymus area, immediately putting you into a state of energetic balance and openness to reprogramming.
Smile as you do this and say your affirmation
TRIPLE WARMER NEUROVASCULAR HOLDING POSITION
Make a ‘triad’ out of the index, middle finger and thumb of the right hand, and place them in the V of the throat right above the collarbone.
Lay the left hand flat across the left side of the head with fingers flat on temples.
Take five deep and slow breaths.
Change hands and repeat on opposite side.
TEDDY BOY SWEEP
Triple Warmer responds really well to working with the neurovascular holding points.
One of the simplest ways I know is to hold the temples.
Stay in that position, with eyes closed, breathing gently and smiling, for about a minute.
Then flatten the fingertips and trace up over the ear, down behind it, linger with a little bit of pressure on the ‘necklace line’ on the back of the neck and then slide off the front of the shoulders.
Shake off any energy and bring your hands together over your heart.
TRIPLE WARMER/SPLEEN CUDDLE
Wrap your right hand around your left rib cage , over the spleen, forearm under the breasts. Left hand wraps around the top of the right arm [over TW points]. Hug yourself in this way and swing gently from side to side.
Forehead Holding Points + occipital for fear
I call this the Oh My God points as they are situated exactly where you would place your hand on your forehead when stressed. Halfway between your eyebrow and hairline in line with your eyes when they are looking straight ahead, these two points are your new best friends.
Hold them with fingertips until you feel a pulse. This signals that the blood is moving from the back to the fore-brain.
Excellent when problems seem insurmountable.
Hold the back of your skull at the same time for extra reassurance - i.e. one palm on forehead and the other on the back of the head.
The Triple Warmer Reactivity Pose is a simple and easy way getting the TW back in balance.
Place the thumb of each hand over the index fingernail.
Rest the thumbs/index finger over the TW temple points and the rest of the fingers rest on the forehead.
Smile, breath and say your affirmations, even if it's a simple one such as 'all is well'.
ACUPRESSURE HOLDING POINT SEQUENCE.
This one takes a little longer but is well worth the effort as it is a powerfully potent stress reliever.
What I suggest is that you do not get too hung up on exactly where the points are – that in itself can sometimes cause anxiety – remember, it is all in your attention and intention – I have included a simple way of holding the points with your hands that will cover the general area.
In addition - there is a link at the bottom of this page showing me holding them - you'll see how easy it is once you've done it a couple of times.
It's probably not something you are going to do every single day, but a useful tool to have in your back pocket when you feel the challenge is strong and your OG needs careful 'hand-holding' to keep her from over-reacting. Or to bring her back into balance if she already has.
· Sit comfortably and hold the first set of points on the left side of the body.
· Breathe deeply. Keep holding until you begin to feel a gentle ‘pulse’.
· Now hold the second set
· Repeat on the other side.
Hold these points for more than a few seconds, perhaps two or three minutes each until you feel a light pulse in the points, this is the signal that the energy is changing. Be guided by your instinct.
Holding pressure is light.
Use 2-3 fingers to hold the area of each point.
Or if you prefer, use the SIMPLE WAY with the whole hand.
Points to hold are :-
1st pair – Triple Warmer 10 and Stomach 36
2nd pair – Triple Warmer 2 and Bladder 66
TRIPLE WARMER 10
When the elbow is flexed, about one thumb width above the bend –
SIMPLE WAY: wrap your hand around your elbow. Think of standing like a genie
STOMACH 36
About 3 fingers below the kneecap
And 1 finger to the outside – you’ll feel a little indentation.
SIMPLE WAY: wrap hand around top of lower leg
TRIPLE WARMER 2
In the web between 4th and 5th fingers
SIMPLE WAY: place palm over 4th and 5th knuckles, fingertips curling over the edge of the hand and touching palm.
BLADDER 66
In the indentation on the side of the foot just below the edge of the little toe.
SIMPLE WAY: hold the edge of your foot so that the palm is over the little toe
This clip also includes the Spleen strengthening points + if you go to the website, there is a free supporting pdf. This sequence of points really is an energetic cure all!
OK that's enough talk - try them all and see which way of talking to your Outer Gatekeeper seems to feel right for you, which is the one you think SHE likes best .... and then DO IT!
https://youtu.be/I25yi5pqOjQ