The Observer
I was inspired to write this article after witnessing a friend experience what you could call "airport trauma". I was witnessing the moment unfold, but I have been in her shoes and could relate to exactly what she was feeling, powerless and small. When we are operating in a victim mentality, anything and anyone can feel like a threat.
Airports provoke a feeling or reenactment of our birth trauma. I've had many similar experiences in the airport: the fear that you aren't on time, you aren't worthy to have a seat of your choice, your bags are too much weight, you are too much, the list can go on and on.
The stress hormones that are released when we are in fight or flight mode are activated in a moment of panic. These same hormones are released, whether we are being "attacked" or not, our body doesn’t know the difference and so we are navigating in a constant state of fear or worry.
The Imprinting Process
After prolonged hours of travel and sudden shock from place to place, I am really starting to recognize how our birth imprint creates a blueprint on our physical body. Our first needs as a baby/child impact our experiences and our perception later in life (this is deep shit and when I started to make the connection, I noticed how my birth script played out in every arena of my life).
Transit comes from latin “transire”, which means to cross over. The transition or crossing over we experience during traveling is symbolic of our transition from womb to world. Traveling can be a pleasurable or a dreadful experience, depending on how you are wired (and your willingness to rewire those circuits if you aren’t enjoying yourself). What fun is traveling when we are stressed out? I think of the quote "It’s not about the destination. Life is about the journey (so take your time)."
A realization I had last night: why are people always rushing around trying to get somewhere?
The conclusion I made, most of us are born in hospitals where the main agenda is to get the baby out in a "timely manner". No wonder we feel like we are rushing to survive.
Navigating Reality
A group of us were heading home from the beautiful island of Samothraki in Greece, where we took part in the 3 week Breath and Life Mastery Training https://www.globalbreathingawareness.com/courses/breath-and-life-mastery-training. We were buzzing off the energy of the ferry (a smooth birth canal moment), and headed to the airport.
It is mandatory (the date is September 2021 of a global pandemic) to have a valid PCR or Antigen test (or a vaccine, if that’s the decision you choose to go) to board any flight domestic or international. No exceptions.
When I overheard the young girl say she took a self-test (which is not valid to fly and she knew this), I knew that she was about to reap what she sowed, the prey in a circle of predators.
There was a deep subconscious imprint that was unlocking itself. In the eyes of the girl, the airport check in representative appeared as the "aggressor" of an uncovered past trauma. It was up to her to cultivate acceptance in the moment or retreat into previous submissive patterns.
After an extended argument with the flight representative, it was made obvious she couldn’t board the flight. (I thought to myself, it costs 10 euro to take a rapid test and ride smoothly, why jump through all the loops and even risk it?)
When it came time to navigate towards airport security, she knew she wasn’t joining us. I could see in her eyes she wanted to cry, her body trembling and hands sweaty.
Uncovering Childhood Trauma
Is it possible our school trauma is also brought up while at the airport? The fear that we aren't accepted or valuable (in the eyes of the teacher/ students) or the fear that we aren't on time (for school) then we get punished.
Perhaps we have developed a subconscious mechanism to cope with this feeling as a child. We have created a story that if we are late then we are bad, and therefore we should suffer. You did NOT come here to suffer, play small or feel inferior.
If you remain ignorant of your natural divinity and continue to play the victim, these stress hormones will continue to shower you in any arena of your life. The airport is one context, but it's come to my attention that, if you are playing small, the world will continue to show you that you are small.
How can we feel secure in a whirlwind of chaos?
Stepping Towards Success
When you change the chemistry of your body and signal the happy hormones, the universe will provide. And I mean it, like really provide. Because you are surrendered and you trust, the universe will show that to you. Real life examples of the universe serving me, "you have been upgraded to business class miss" "your flight is delayed, you have an abundance of time to enjoy"; you sit next to someone and you have a, "wow this is the reason I am here" moment.
I've learned over the years and many failed attempts to understand the nature of making peace with the moment. Making peace with the inside will mirror the peace you feel towards the outside. There is no separation.
All moments exist simultaneously. When you change your reaction, the world changes. When you change your breath, your physiology changes.
The same practices it takes to become a master traveler relate to those of a breathwork master, focus, discipline and persistence!!!
There are a few things that we can do to have an effortless, effervescent transit while passing through airports and in navigating life:
- Breathe! - Take 20 connected breaths or a few slow deep breaths to ground your body and get back into homeostasis/ into a neutral charge; in this state, you can make an aligned action/ decision.
- Affirm yourself in the moment - repeating affirmations in a moment of high stress will signal your mind to change your body chemistry from a state of anxiety to peace
Try this one: "IN THIS MOMENT EVERYTHING IS WORKING OUT FOR MY HIGHEST GOOD, OUT OF THIS SITUATION, ONLY GOOD WILL COME, I AM SAFE."
- Trust yourself - Trusting yourself is accepting yourself as you are in this moment (without the need to change anything).
- Acceptance - Developing self acceptance and trust that you are guided in all moments; If you don’t board the flight, consider it meant to be. (harsh but to some extent this really works! "If I couldn’t catch that bus, then maybe that was FOR me rather than against me"
- Gratitude - "thank you for getting me this far"; when we practice gratitude; we become aligned with the unified intelligence that is serving us at every moment
- Play BIG! - Don't take no for an answer, flight for what you believe you deserve!!!
- Have fun and laugh at yourself - Essential step to pure pleasure and enjoyment; If we take a step back at look at the big picture, "why are we so serious?"; everything is okay (even the most stress-provoking moments); in this moment, you are breathing, you are safe, you are unharmed; laughing releases happy hormones the opposite of the hormones that are provoked in traumatic experiences - develop a habit to laugh more and bathe in the happy hormones
After all, we love traveling because we can meet new people, expand our hearts and minds and see the world from a new perspective. When we cultivate our happy hormones often and navigate in a state of trust and gratitude - life will get really good!!! You become the master of your life (and the airport/ life becomes your servant rather than the other way around).
Thank you life for all my experiences because I grow and get better through the failures and mistakes. I wouldn’t exchange anything. I love the challenges because it means I am growing!!! JAYY! (Something we say in Greek, jay = victory!)
