Keeping Your Vibe High During Challenging Times

It’s easy to create a high vibration for yourself when things are going well. However it becomes more tricky when we experience challenging circumstances in our lives. When difficult situations come up and we feel as though we are being tested all the good work can come crashing down and we find ourselves in the dulldrums again.

Let’s get one thing clear. Life is not about avoiding ‘negative’ emotions. In fact they are a vital part of life. For one thing they provide ‘contrast’. How would we ever know we are happy if we did not experience the emotion we call sadness? How would we know we are excited if we had never felt boredom? The law of attraction says we cannot move away from anything we think about, we can only move towards that which we think of. Rather than trying to avoid negative emotions instead try always moving towards joy. If you are in a bad place, reach for a thought that feels just a little bit better, and then another, and so on up from there.

So how do we keep our vibe high when we experience circumstances that feel challenging or less than ideal to us?

1. Accept that some ‘contrast’ is part of life. Embrace those challenging circumstances or  difficult emotions, and be grateful for them as they are alerting you to the fact that you need to course correct. Byron Katie refers to this as ‘Loving what is’ in her book by the same title. In some cases we need to really sink into, and feel our funk first, before we are ready to let it go. This is fine, allow yourself to feel it fully, and then begin to look for a better thought about the situation.
2. Look for the lesson. Every challenging situation holds a lesson if you bring your awareness to it. And if we move on too quickly without learning the lesson it is likely that we will get to experience that set of circumstances again. We keep re-creating the same set of circumstances until we get the lesson they hold for us. So hold still and really look for the lesson in your current situation before moving on.
3. Remember that we attract from the vibration we are offering out. This means that whatever level you are vibrating at you are attracting more of the same. For some people this can cause panic. You may think ‘oh no I am being negative so I am attracting more negativity’. Although this is basically true, there is a whole spectrum of emotions with different vibrations attached to them. For example anger can be of a higher vibration than bland ‘niceness’, especially if that niceness is not genuine. This doesn’t mean we should all go around being angry, it simply means honoring where you are at and then gently reaching for the next better thought and feeling (higher vibration) is the way forward.
4. Take a break. Sometimes just taking a break from whatever is going on is enough to shift your perspective. When we are experiencing something we find difficult it can become all consuming or overwhelming. Sometimes simply going and doing something else is enough of a mental break to interrupt the pattern and raise your vibe. Often doing something active like a brisk walk in nature, some stretching or some Yoga/Pilates moves can be ideal because it gets your energy moving and can lift your mood.
5. Notice and question your thoughts about what is happening. Think about a difficult time you have been through recently. Perhaps it was an experience within your love life, or an issue with money. Now notice your thoughts about it. Often much of the pressure comes from the thoughts we think about our circumstances rather than the circumstances themselves. We can create ‘thought loops’ in our head where we literally go round in circles with our negative thinking, and all that negative thinking only adds to the suffering and continues to create more of the same. Instead see if you can interrupt your thought pattern. What positive thought could you choose to think instead?
6. What can you do to raise your vibe right now? What would lift you up, just a little bit, in this moment? Is it taking a break to go out in nature, doing some breathing exercises, meditation or some exercise? Perhaps a nourishing meal would do it for you. Some people favor a hot bath with candles. Leaping round the garden or dancing round the room to uplifting music are also excellent for lifting your spirits and getting the energy flowing again. Journaling is another way to process. So there are lots and lots of options for when we want to life our vibe. I bet you can think of some more.

Feel free to leave a comment and let us know your current challenges and/or how you keep your vibe high.