Busy Body Beta to Muse Alpha

But everything that's going on in the world,

sometimes we can get stuck in a funk.

And sometimes it's more than a funk.

Sometimes we get stuck and fight or flight or freeze or fun or fuck it,

and we just can't seem to get out of where we are.

This isn't just a mood or an attitude.

It's chemistry.

It lives in the body and in the brain.

But the good news is there's something we can do about it.

Not to avoid the funcs because they have their purpose too.

But when you get into one and you finally decide,

you know what, I don't really need this anymore.

I need to shake it off like an old wet coat,

dance-free, naked and wild.

But I might not know how.

I mean, in so many cases, we might not feel like we even have the chemistry available to make the shift.

It just feels like so many resources have been used.

But I want to tell you something.

It's not just a mood.

It's not just an attitude.

So many of the structures around us are enforcing intentionally this fight-flight mode.

It's like a program we're unconsciously ingesting without known consent.

And it's in so many places, right?

It's on the phone.

It's in social.

It's in the news.

It's on the billboards.

It's in text threads.

We may or may not really be aware of our conscious consent.

To engage with it because it just feels like it's kind of everywhere.

We may feel numb or in a fog or burnt out or overwhelmed.

Just like choosing to spiritually bypass because we just can't take any more input in reaching a limit.

But even if we reach that limit and we can say no,

I don't want to ingest any more of that.

We might not feel the power to make the shift.

So if you're there, I just want to acknowledge you.

Right where you are.

And if you have someone in your life who's there, I just want to acknowledge that being with someone who's in that state can also be challenging.

Because you can't talk yourself out of it.

I mean, that's the thing.

You can try.

You can affirm.

You can save all the things.

You can try to adjust your mood.

You can listen to people tell you it's time to get on with it and get over it.

But if you don't feel it in your body.

And if your brain and body are not in agreement about it.

Even if you can get out of it for a little bit.

You might pop right back in.

So I want to affirm that this condition is being enforced by the structures around us, the programs, the paradigm of overwhelm and power over.

But more than that, it's settled into the brain.

Into our brainwaves.

So many of the things around us put us into a survival mode.

Including bringing our brain into a constantly cycling beta mode.

Now, beta is prefrontal cortex.

Beta is conscious, waking, thought, decision making, discerning.

But it also can go a little bit into that busy body.

Self where we're just spinning our wheels and we can't think of what else to do.

Because it doesn't seem like there's enough life force to catapult us into another space.

It's a real thing.

And the thing is about the beta brainwaves.

If you don't even know there's another option because you haven't felt like that in a long time.

We may turn toward escapism or addictions or binge-washing.

Anybody doing some binge-watching right about now?

I heard there's a new episode of Outlander.

And so what I'm wondering is what is it that you do when you need to get out of the funk

and you don't feel the energy to take yourself out to that next green pasture of possibility?

I don't know what you do, but I'm going to tell you something about what I do.

So there's a thing about beta, right?

Nothing bad about beta, but we can get stuck there because we don't know that there are other choices.

One of the things we can do is to consciously move ourselves from beta to alpha.

The next space of the brain that allows us to lift out a little bit of our current circumstances.

And one of the ways is to hang out with the muse.

Literally, have tea or sparkling water or a glass of vino with the muse.

She's readily available, you know? All you have to do is take a seat.

Outside is great or a big fluffy chair.

Bring your beverage, bring a journal in your lap, and just sit and wait.

Start with the active waiting.

But don't just wait like surrender, bring an air of possibility, bring a little bit of,

I wonder what, flirtation, a little bit of curiosity.

Just a little, not much effort is required.

Just sit in the in between.

You may find yourself gazing into space.

Gertrude Stein is reported to have said being a genius takes a lot of time sitting around doing nothing.

For me, muse time starts with positioning myself in the nothing.

Making an invitation, a flirtation.

And yes, a little bit of expectation, because when I am quiet enough and I position myself to receive,

the muse usually comes through some curiosity or some way to fix my gaze at something,

some great noticing, some appreciation, some looking at a place I've never looked before,

could include talking to trees, or listening for the bird's messages,

or imagining riding a beam of light like Einstein did when the theory of relativity came forth.

You do need to slow down a moment to just breathe and reflect and observe creation.

Within just five or so minutes of a shifted attention, a different way of listening or looking,

you may happily find yourself slipping into alpha from beta and daydreaming.

You may find your chemistry gently shifting, life force returning, curiosity amplifying.

And sometimes we're not looking for a huge change, just a little bit of something sweet,

little bit of the sweet spot.

There's a sweet spot between beta and alpha, between alpha and theta.

And if you hang out with the muse long enough, surely you shall take you further on into theta,

into the realm of the mystic.

So I think of beta as like the busy body, alpha as the muse and theta as the mystic.

Once your chemistry begins to shift in your brain waves, the body follows,

listen to the body.

Perhaps pick up a pen, maybe your feet want to ride a poem,

maybe your nose wants to tell a story, maybe your heart wants to sing a rap,

she's been waiting to tell you.

This is sacred time.

This is tea with the muse time.

To me and to many in our community, this is life saving tea with the muse time.

This episode of tea with the muse is dedicated to Mama Joan.

I love you Mama Joan.

You're with the ancestors now of the start as the niche.

And I'm so grateful my book tea with the muse helped you remember you get to choose.