Loons Aren't Stressed

Imagine . . . if you could get to a place where worry was optional. Until recently whenever I presented a stress management workshop, I would begin with the statement, “There’s no quick fix for stress.” What I meant and would try to demonstrate throughout the course of the workshop is the habitual, and therefore unconscious, nature of stress.

The habit begins when we’re kids. As children each one of us is inevitably exposed to an event (or events) that tells us the world can sometimes be unpredictable, dangerous or scary. In response we develop ways to cope with this stress-inducing information, but because we have limited life experience the coping mechanisms we create are not always healthy or rational.

The primary goal is to feel safe – so as kids each one of us devises ways to make ourselves feel okay in the midst of chaos. A few common examples: some of us might turn to food for comfort; some of us might create rituals that give us the illusion of having control over some unforeseen event; or some of us might escape into distraction. In a twisted way these coping mechanisms and rituals help us get through difficult times and because of that we end up repeating these behaviors since to our young minds, they work.

But as you know, when you consistently repeat a behavior it becomes a habit and habits are unconscious. So the conclusion I’ve drawn is that most humans are in the habit of being stressed – I believe that for most of us our baseline experience is one of worry and concern, but it’s so deeply ingrained that we’re not aware of how much tension we’re living with. What I didn’t say in the workshop was that becoming aware of and managing these deeply embedded patterns of chronic stress is close to impossible for most of us.

However, my belief that there’s no quick fix for stress was challenged during my first session in the Life Vessel. Below is an excerpt from the journal I kept during my initial sessions:

Each song that played took me to a magical place in the dreamtime. I felt like I was immersed in the landscape of middle earth. In one scene I was in dark forest filled with ancient pine trees. The forest floor was covered with orange pine needles. I rested on the needles and a deer approached and licked my face. The doe nudged pine needles around my prone body making a nest. I felt completely safe and cared for.

Later I was a loon flying over a Vermont lake at dawn. There was mist on the shore and the surface of the water was like glass. I landed on the surface of the water, completely still, and marveled at the beauty of the landscape. I had the insight that this is how life is supposed to be – an opportunity to enjoy the experience of being on this planet. That the stress was optional and that other species don’t carry stress the way humans do. I got a glimpse that suggested that humans don’t have to “carry” stress and then I realized in that moment that I was completely stress free.

That moment was a revelation.

It wasn’t until my mind and body were free from stress that I realized just how much stress I was living with. The novelty and resulting exhilaration of the experience told me that it had been a very long time (if ever) since I had felt that kind of freedom. And it was blissful.

Now that I’ve experienced several consecutive sets of Life Vessel sessions, I’m finding that most stressful events don’t sink their teeth into me like they used to. They don’t trigger that childlike need to feel safe. In fact, an overall decrease in the experience of stress is the most common side-effect reported by clients. It’s as if in the Life Vessel your body finally has a chance to iron out the stress wrinkles and once they’re gone all the systems in your body can focus energy on maintaining health instead of managing the onslaught of unconscious abstract threats that fill our day-to-day lives. This allows the sympathetic nervous system to conserve energy and operate the way it was intended – when there is a real time threat, whatever that may look like.

While it's unlikely that you'll have the loon experience - okay, highly unlikely - it is likely that the depth of relaxation you'll experience in the Life Vessel will be extraordinary. It might just blow your mind.