The Time is Now to Learn How to Find More Grace Through Uncertainty

by | Jun 19, 2022 | Dying/Death, Health anxiety, Highly Sensitive Person, Intrusive Thoughts | 12 comments

If there was ever a time to grow practices that help us become more comfortable with uncertainty, it’s now. As we stand on this threshold of transition in our human and global history, we all feel the teetering, the crumbling of what we’ve known as we stand in this wild, uncertain liminal stage wondering what will be and become.

And we know that when the outer world is shaky, our inner world can follow suit. We know, as highly sensitive people prone to anxiety, that we’re experts at creating our own maelstrom of terror even when our personal outer worlds are safe and sound.

Intrusive thoughts can bring us to our knees.

Health anxiety, about ourselves or our children (and even our pets), can pull the rug out from beneath our psyches.

Relationship anxiety can turn our worlds upside down and inside out until we’re left shaking and wondering: Where is our ground? What is the stillpoint? Something, someone please help me.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over my years of being a devotee of the inner world it’s that well-being and the ability to reel ourselves back in from the compelling lure of an intrusive thought or any fear-spiral depends on one thing: connection – connection to Self, others, and the invisible world, which, for many people, is experienced most directly in nature. Many of my other courses focus on growing connection to self and others; Grace Through Uncertainty is a 30-day roadmap for growing personal and meaningful practices that can help root and ground you through the twists and turns of this life.

Grace Through Uncertainty is one of my favorite courses to lead. It was born from a terrifying health scare in 2016 that warranted multiple doctor visits and ultimately a CT-scan (I tell the full story in the course), and it was because of the daily practices that I was already firmly rooted in that I was able to navigate those terrifying weeks with some grace. Those practices have become more deeply entwined into my being since that scary summer, and not at a day passes when I don’t feel grateful for them.

When worry about my health sneaks in, it’s the practices that offer a life boat.

When worry about my kids’ health shows up, it’s the rituals that rise up like stepping stones.

When my fear of death says hello, it’s the moment of presence that bring me back to the present moment.

When worry about the world pierces my soul, it’s my relationship with the natural world that catches me in a hammock of okay-ness.

Some of the practices have shapeshifted over the years, as I’m a firm believer that spiritual practices must be flexible to meet the changing seasons of our lives. But many have become so deeply entwined into my being that they don’t feel like practices at all; they’re my very breath:

They’re the prayers of gratitude that run through my soul even before I realize l’m fully awake.

They’re the songs of praise I sing quietly in bed before my feet touch the ground, and sometimes still sing to my sons (if they let me :)).

They’re the moments I pause on the patio to receive the goodness of the sun and imagine that it’s alighting my central column.

These prayers, songs, practices, moments of presence, and rituals comprise the trunk and roots and crown of my being. Alongside the steadfast love of human others, they’re how I remain steady amidst these stormy seas that sailboat Earth is trying to navigate, and the inner worries that can take hold at times as a sensitive human prone to anxiety

Let me be clear that learning how to find more comfort or grace through uncertainty doesn’t mean that we don’t feel scared, unhinged, disoriented, and angry at times. We need to feel the full range of our emotions when the world is on fire.

What it does mean is that we have a still point to come back to, places in our inner and outer worlds that remind us that we’re held, safe, and not alone. Growing regular and meaningful practices during less stressful times allows us to draw upon them, like water from a well, when we need them. As I mentioned, it’s what got me through the 2016 health scare while continuing along in my regular life feeling mostly steady and intact. They’re what have helped hundreds of people who have taken the Grace Through Uncertainty course find more tolerance for uncertainty and discover the wells of well-being that are waiting to be accessed within.

Are you ready to join the next live round where we’ll be dipping into these sacred waters together, held in the web of community and receiving guidance from me through the calls and forum? The next live round will start on July 9th, 2022, and I look forward to meeting you there.

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12 Comments

  1. I’m based in Switzerland and although I would love to be part of the live chats there is no information about times. With the time difference and my busy family schedule it would be really helpful to know if it is even a possibility.

    Reply
    • Ah yes! Here they are – and please note that only about 1/4 of the participants are able to join the live calls, and all calls are recorded. You’ll also have opportunities to receive support on the moderated forum:

      Call 1: Tuesday, July 12th at 4pm ET (New York time)
      Call 2: Tuesday, July 26th at 12:15pm ET.

      Reply
  2. I love this, Sheryl ❤️ one thing that is rocking my stability lately is that yes I am connected to nature but the threats of climate change (my favorite local trees would soon be “migrating” due to droughts for example) and the urbanization of natural reserves around me is pulling that rug off my feet, and I have been spiralling hard lately. I am having anxiety even among nature now 🙁 I am trying to find inner stability again in midst of change and seeing life and love where I can. Would this course also help in this regard? ❤️ Thank you

    Reply
    • Yes, you’re far from alone with this painful trigger, and it always comes up on the course forum. Yes, the course would help in this regard as it will help you grow practices that will connect you to deep trust in the life’s unfolding, even when that unfolding is painful and scary. ❤️

      Reply
      • thank you dear <3 and thank you for all that you do.

        Reply
    • What does the threshold of transition in our human and global history mean?

      What are we crossing into?

      Reply
      • We don’t know yet. Many people call this time “The Great Turning” and the hope is that we’re transitioning away from the illusions of separateness and into a kinder and more compassionate planet – but it remains to be seen. Thus the world anxiety that many of feeling right now…

        Reply
        • While I certainly hope that’s true, it is really hard to imagine at this time. And so, I continue to learn the techniques you teach and ones I naturally gravitate to (eg yin/slow yoga)

          I will look up the “Great Turning” for more context. Thank you 🙂

          Reply
          • Hi Sheryl –

            There are times throughout my day, where my body feels relaxed, my spirit is calm, but I feel a fog in my brain, like a worry with no words. I’ll be sitting on the couch, with my spirit, and I feel physically aligned but my brain does not. Again, there are no thoughts, just a sense of uncertainty in my brain maybe? I’m not sure what is being requested of me in those moments where I physically and spirituality feel ok but my brain doesn’t. Does this course touch on that? Do you have any advice for it?

            Reply
            • Yes, nameless dread or worry is a common manifestation of anxiety and it’s addressed in the course.

              Reply
  3. Dear Sheryl, just (and still) recovering from Covid last week I realize that my health anxiety took a huge spike during the isolated healing period and the waves of uncertainty are surely very present right now – also quite familiar taking a hold of other aspects of my life like work or relationships. I certainly had my phases of “doing the work” and felt really stable just before Covid hit. But this combined with a unexpected message of a sudden death of a once close person rocked my boat. Would the course be a good recommendation in these contexts? Even if there is a history of therapy already and also even the sneaky character of Resistance sometimes shows up : )? Thank you a lot!

    Reply
    • Yes, Judith, the course would be a balm for you right now, even and especially with therapy as your foundation. I hope to see you there.

      Reply

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