SSP 046: Finding Freedom While in Quarantine

What's going on, guys? It's Jordan Kamlish here and back for another episode of the State Shifters podcast. Now, this is a short recording that I did the day before I left Bali, March 18, I believe it was just before I really came to terms with the extent how serious the coronavirus was and how much it was affecting people. And I made this recording just around some of my perspective on what this on opportunity is being presented to us and how we can find and develop a deeper connection with ourselves by embracing the fear that's coming up now. The importance of this podcast is coming at a time where I feel a lot of us are being faced with the imminent fear of our own impermanence. I say imminent meaning the realization that we're only here for a temporary period of time. And a lot of people are afraid to acknowledge that underlying fear of death that we all carry around. So I see it as a really powerful opportunity to start to transcend the mind and find a deeper connection with the part of us that doesn't hold fear. So enjoy this brief conversation that I have with you, and I will see you in the next episode. I got lots more interviews to come, so if you're struggling with any of this situation at the moment, do not hesitate to reach out to me. Best place to find me is on Instagram dateshifters. Thanks, guys. Enjoy the episode. Welcome to the State Shifters Podcast, a show dedicated to helping you discover your true potential through connecting the mind, body and soul.

Fear can be such a consuming emotion, especially when it's collective and turned into panic, like what's happening with the coronavirus now. Fortunately for me, I'm in Bali. I say fortunate because the people out here in Bali are sort of just going about their lives as normal. That doesn't seem to really be much of an impact yet. So I wanted to create some content that really speaks to this fear that's been coming up for people globally. And I'm going to tie that back in with the conversation around freedom as well, because fear is the main emotion or the main block for people when it comes to finding freedom. And right now we're in a position where a lot of us are either at home, we're not going to work anymore. A lot of cities are now in lockdown, and maybe if you're listening or watching to this, maybe you're at home on lockdown thinking, wow, what's going on? This is a time where we've never experienced this level of closing off from society. We can't travel places, we can't even go to places like the gym and restaurants now. So what does this all mean? And what can this mean for you? And what opportunity is hidden amongst this seemingly chaotic time? And my invitation for you, when it comes to a time like this, is start to see this as an opportunity to connect back with yourself, to connect back with a part of you that is scared. Because underneath all this, there is just an emotion that we're afraid to feel. And I was reflecting on this earlier. What is that emotion that's coming up now that's collectively for people that's causing us to go into panic? And it's sweeping us up into a story that our mind's telling us, that's trying to keep us safe. Our mind's designed to keep us alive. There's this animal brain that we carry around. It's on a lookout for danger. And when we see viruses and pandemic, those things spark us into this story of how can we stay alive. That's why you see a lot of people going out and hoarding things and doing rash things, animal things, because the mind is just playing out this story of each to their own survival of the fittest. So underneath that story is an emotion is something that we're afraid to feel. And a lot of the noise in the mind is coming from that. And if you think about it, that emotion that we're running from is maybe it's. It's the fear of death, maybe it's the fear of impermanence. It's the fear that we're all running from this emotion that we don't want to feel. And I remember there was a great saying. I can't remember how the saying exactly went, but the gateway to true freedom is being willing to feel something. And whatever's getting in the way of us having that enlightened state or the next level in our experience in life is behind the emotions that we're not willing to feel. So that might be that emotion might be some shame, some guilt, some judgment, maybe a lot of these emotions are coming from the past that we're trying to run from through coping mechanisms from the mind. So this situation with the coronavirus is triggering a lot of emotions that we're afraid to feel. And it's now an opportunity, if you're at home alone or at home with your family, to slow down and be with that part of you instead of buying into the story of the mind. And that's keeping you distracted and keeping you swept up in the panic, maybe spend some time connecting back with your body, spend some time being with these sensations that come up during this time. Give love to that part of you, and that's really where we get to heal and really go a little bit deeper. So anytime that there's pain arising from anything external, this just happens to be a collective pain. Anytime there's pain coming up, it's an opportunity for us to go deeper. So that would be my suggestion and invitation. Just spend more time in meditation, spend more time reading, spend more time journaling, reflecting, connecting. And I guarantee you this is a collective opportunity for the earth to heal. Because now we're not being pulled into our distractions, we're not being pulled into our coping mechanism. The biggest one for a lot of people is work. Work is the biggest distraction and coping mechanism from us not having to feel these negative emotions. So if you're at home and you're working less, see what comes up for you. If there's anxiety, worries, major fears that are coming up, that then becomes your gateway to experiencing deeper connections of love with yourself. Now, I want to tie that back into how fear and freedom are closely interlinked. Because a lot of us, when we're not aware of it, are living out of fear instead of love. And when you're living out of fear, you're living to survive. Most people are going to work because they have to, because if they don't pay their bills, they're not going to survive. So they're stuck in fear mindset all the time. So discovering true freedom. Most people think true freedom is when they, they can travel where they want, they can eat what they want, they can go to different countries, they can hang out with who they want, and they're not at mercy to a job. But I'm realizing that as you kind of progress along your journey, if you're tied to external freedoms, instead of realizing that on the inside, that is the true gateway to freedom. You can't find out of freedom until you find inner freedom. You'll be chasing out of freedom your whole life and you'll be stuck in this mindset of thinking, okay, I need the next thing, I need more money, I need to get more material items, and then I'll feel free. And I know this because I'm out here in Bali at the moment, experiencing the life that I envisioned for myself three years ago when I was in my corporate job, feeling the opposite of freedom. And I thought that, yes, freedom for me is being able to travel and work wherever I want and make money from wherever I want, and live the lifestyle of my Dreams. And had I not realized that inner freedom is the first step, I would have got out to Bali. And because what I'm experiencing now is I'm still having inner blocks come up. I'm still having challenges arise. And it doesn't matter where you are in the world or what you're doing. If you're not feeling inner harmony, you go the furtherest thing from freedom, which is why a lot of people with a lot of money are very unhappy. They have a lot of money, but it's just created more problems for themselves because they haven't learned how to process their own emotions. So what I did was at my corporate job was learn to accept the circumstances of what this moment is. And an example of that would be the circumstances of my moment right now is I'm sitting here, there's some plants around me, There's. There's some water flowing. And what I hear, what I see, what I smell and what I taste is the circumstances of this moment, without the story of the mind coming in there and judging things as good or bad, judging emotions as good or bad. So your first step is making peace with the circumstances of your moment. That's how you find true freedom. And if you find yourself judging your circumstances or judging what you're feeling, then can you bring acceptance to that? I notice that I'm judging this emotion that I'm experiencing right now, or I'm noticing that I'm judging that I'm in a corporate job and I don't want to be here. So the more you can practice becoming aware of what is your inner state of acceptance, that is when you start to work on developing inner freedom or cultivating inner freedom. Only then when you've learned to discover true freedom, joy, peace, fulfillment, connectedness with this moment, no matter the external circumstances, you then get given a key that unlocks you to the next level of your experience, the next level of your soul's expansion, which will then take you to maybe another different external environment, or maybe it might keep you where you are. If you're in a job that might allow you to get the promotion you're looking for, that might allow you to make more money in that current situation. But for me, the key was then I got the opportunity to travel and do what I loved and work around other people who are on the same wavelength as me. And that next level then brought up a whole new set of challenges that brought up new inner blocks for me that were the same underlying lessons just disguised differently. It was a lesson just with a different external appearance, but ultimately showing me back to myself, to my heart, to what was getting in the way of me experiencing true love and connection with this moment. So if you value freedom, which is what I've observed, a lot of people have freedom high in their values list, start with that. Now. Start with how can you find freedom in this moment? Because truly, there is nothing lacking. If you think there's something lacking or missing in this moment, it's because you're listening to a story in the mind, and underneath that story is an emotion that you're unwilling to feel. So be willing to feel the emotions of fear and unworthiness, because behind all of them is the true gateway to the life you want. And whether it be the coronavirus that's bringing up, whether it be an old story from a past traumatic event that happened to you that you're still carrying around, all of these are just gateways to discover what it truly means to live in peace. And that's what true freedom is. And you'll be given the keys. Your soul's expansion hides underneath this. So to do that, like I mentioned at the start of this video or this podcast, whatever you're listening or watching is really spending enough time with yourself to understand how to reprocess what it is that you're feeling. If it's fear, can we start to love the fear? If it's doubt, can you love the doubt? Can you love the worry? Can you love the anxiety? Spend enough time with yourself and you start to understand that you can unravel the layers that are getting in the way of a true connection with the unconditional love that you were born with that's always available. And now we're given a chance to slow down, to truly discover that. So use this time that you've been given and that the earth's been given through this situation that we're in, to really unravel the layers of what's getting in the way of us experiencing true freedom and love in this moment. So thanks for listening.