Proper Nurture: Reclaiming Your Sensual and Intuitive Self

This week, I realized something important: We can be as calm as we want, as "Buddha-like" as we desire, but we will never reach true nirvana if we starve ourselves of basic needs.

Our basic needs can vary from person to person, but most of them are quite simple: We need food, shelter, water, air, and good company. Maybe even a campfire with some barbecue. We often don't realize how the infrared radiation from a fire can truly relax our eyes.

[So, if you're on the computer all day, go light a fire and stare into it for a while. This is especially helpful at night during European summers; the crispy crackling of roasting food can fuel your senses.]

However, today, we're talking about pure survival.

Survival mode kicks in when you're under stress. Chronic stress is stress that continues without you knowing when it will end. When you're in financial stress, this can completely numb your sensual and intuitive abilities. Your body is like a finely tuned instrument, and chronic stress will dull these powers.

You probably know how your body feels when it's stressed. Your muscles get tight (especially in your neck and arms), your breath shortens (partly because of muscle tension), and your mind becomes narrow and hyper-focused on avoiding danger. Your inner state focuses on yourself because that's what you need right now to survive.

Your brain is your superpower. I realized this past week, as I came out of an intense period of financial tightness, that my brain, literally centrally located, relaxed more.

Trust me, you won't be able to feel this shift if you're not in tune with your body and its subtle energies. But if you are, and you haven't already been "cooked" by stress for several years, you can certainly feel how your nervous system responds. This is a super important skill to develop, as turning inward and gauging your inner biological systems is the best way to not only assess your stress levels but also to develop a real connection with your body. Not through an electrical device, no mediator—just you, listening to your body.

As I was getting out of constant stress, I felt my limbic system relaxing, finally receiving more energy. The limbic system is connected to the "mammal brain," dealing with emotional and community-context-driven needs and decisions. This system is properly nurtured as soon as our basic needs are met. Thesubcortical substructure governs reptilian needs, also called the "reptilian brain." What do reptilians want? Food, safety, and ideally, reproduction. That's it.

When we are in financial stress, your brain invests more life force energy into the reptilian parts of the brain because you haven't satisfied those needs yet. The more energy invested there, the less you can think about your loved ones because you're focused on yourself. The same applies to the neocortex, which governs complex problem-solving and is also called the "human brain." If you're in survival stress, less energy is invested there.

The way to higher thinking is not by "grinding" more, but through proper nurture. The way to a more sensual and intuitive existence is not by getting more done for more money, but through proper nurture.

Less is more. 

Don't overdo things. Don't work yourself to death just to get by. Think about strategic ways to get out of survival mode. Ask your boss for more money. Eat earlier in the day. Reduce cortisol (the stress hormone), drink more water, and drink less coffee.

You will feel the quality of your thoughts and actions changing. These actions will then propel you into a more grounded and stress-free future.
I hope this article helped you today.

See you next week!
Kiss kiss,
Tarkan