Are you having a hard time? 😨

Dec 9

Are you going through a hard time?

In this blog, I’m going to share with you 20 Ways You Can Get Through Hard Times and then share about one of my biggest challenges that I’ve been going/growing through recently.

Read onwards, fellow pilgrims!

WHY IS IT SO CRAPPY OUT THERE right now?

My friends who know about astrology tell me that this is a difficult time in the world.

We’ve got Mars in Retrograde, we’ve got those darn eclipses, we’ve got the Man in the Moon who just spilled his coffee on his white shirt...whatever is going on up there means that you and I have been having some challenges down here!

And it’s ok.

Challenges are part of life. It’s how we learn. It’s how we gain information on what’s working and what’s not. And if we handle our challenges with grace, the hard times can be a powerful source of growth and positive change.

20 Ways to Get Through Your Hard Times

We all have ‘em, but how we handle them is the difference between panic attacks and depression and using the difficulty as fuel to grow into a whole new level of our soul’s evolution on this earthly plane.

Drink “Nervines” - You can nourish your stressed-out nervous system with plants called “Nervines” that help you ease, heal, and soothe yourself from the inside. Some favorites include Chamomille, Milky Oats, Nettle, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Milk Thistle, Passionflower, Valerian, and Tulsi. You can find them online, just search. I recommend organic options, and I often buy in bulk. Read the reviews and brew yourself a hot cup of feeling better!
Create a new altar. What would the resolution to your challenging situation look and feel like? Would it be more abundance? More ease with your family? A new loving partner? Whatever it is, find and collect objects that help you connect to the Spirit of what it is you want. Clear a special place, like a table in the corner, and arrange your objects there in whatever way feels good (there’s no wrong way when we just focus on what feels good). Light a candle and use this space to come and pray. Focus your mind on the vision of your successful outcome. Give thanks for it having happened (even though it hasn’t technically happened yet). Believe in it. You can even put some seeds in a little bowl and every time you come to your altar to pray and pour your energy into the vision you want to create, the seeds will absorb that energy. You can do this for a moon cycle (or longer) and when you feel those seeds are charged up go plant them in the garden as an offering, trusting that your vision is growing as the seeds do.
Trust and Rely Upon God. Whatever your problem is, God (and that can be whatever your concept of a Higher Power is) is the answer. How do we know if we are trusting and relying upon God? We can face our challenges with a feeling of peace. We ask God for guidance and support and we hold onto our faith that it’s coming. We focus on taking the next step and keep our minds and hearts open to what help may look like - and we let God show us the way. We breathe, we relax, we stop trying to do it all ourselves, and trust that there are greater forces at play.
Remember where you came from. Remember what your ancestors have been through, the hardships and dangers they faces and overcame. And they did. If they could do it, so can you. Remember that you come from a lineage of strong-ass survivors and their strength lives in you.
Get out of your head and into your body! When those negative fearful thoughts are swirling around inside of your mind like a hoard of the Wicked Witch’s flying monkeys, drop out of the sky and get grounded into your body. Some great ways are dancing (here’s my playlist called “Feel Good and Dance with Me”), shaking (literally shake that sh*t out...start with your hands and see if you can move through the rest of your body...get weird!!), and yoga. In some of my darkest times, it was committing to a daily yoga video with Yoga from Adriene that literally saved my life.
Smile. Ok I know this sounds really simple - and it is - and sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Even though things may feel hard and dark, put a smile on your face. Consider it a yoga move. Something happens in our brain when we smile - it sets off a cascade of chemicals that can actually help us feel happier. And that’s because “sometimes our joy is the cause of our smile and sometimes our smile is the cause of our joy.”
Watch your thoughts and the stories you’re telling yourself about the situation. What’s on replay in your mind? Recognize the thoughts that are telling you it’s hopeless, that there’s no way out, that you can't afford it, that you’re going to die poor and alone, and make the effort to replace them with positive affirmations like: “I’m safe” “This too shall pass” “God is leading me towards the solution” “I am an abundant being and I will have everything I need to take care of myself” “God did not take me this far to leave me now” “Everything is and will be ok” "I will have everything I need to build my house" “I am open to receiving the saving grace of God in this and all situations” “This challenge is helping me grow” “I allow this challenge to bring positive changes to my life” “There will always be a way” “I choose to keep my heart and mind open to the new opportunities and blessings God is sending to me now”.
Expect to grow through this as you go through this. We have a quote from the Buddha at Karuna that reads “Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds a blessing of some kind. Your job is to find it.” Nothing happens by coincidence. Everything happens for a reason and everything can be used as fuel for our growth if we stay open and look for the lesson. You can ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” “What could this be here to show or teach me?” “How is this happening for me?”
Play with your dog. Don’t get so wrapped up and swallowed by the darkness that you end up committing the sin of taking yourself too seriously. Find ways to play and have fun. Let yourself step out of your drama and find those simple ways to enjoy life and have some fun. When in doubt, get weird. Smile at kids. Put on a funny hat. Walk backward. Make funny faces. It’s ok to not take yourself so seriously all the time. Let your heart be light again.
Get up early, before the day begins, before other people are awake, and invest the time in your spiritual practice. Light a candle on your altar and say your prayers. Renew your surrender to God. Use prayer beads (aka a mala) to chant a mantra to Ganesha, the force of the divine that helps remove obstacles. Meditate. Do what connects you to that voice of wisdom within.
Lean on your friends. Don’t go it alone. You don’t have to pretend to be strong. It’s ok to let the people close to you know that you’re having a hard time. It’s not a failure, it’s just a part of being human, and it’s ok to receive support just like it’s ok for you to give support to the people you love (and you know you love to be there for your friends when they are feeling down). I think the key here is: don’t play the victim. Share your feelings. Ask for help when you need it. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Reach out. Don’t isolate.
Evaluate your attachments. In Buddhism, we learn about the ways we suffer as humans, and one of the biggest sources of suffering is our attachments. What is an attachment? It’s an insistence, an expectation, a holding on to something or someone. It’s the need to have it your way. It’s thinking you know best and it’s trying to make life fit itself to your plans and demands. It’s not your house that makes you suffer, it's your attachment to your house that makes you suffer. It’s not your relationship that makes you suffer (although it can seem that way), it’s your attachment to a person acting in a certain way that makes you suffer. It’s not your Facebook page that makes you suffer, it’s your attachment to looking good, being liked, understood, and accepted that makes you suffer. So during these hard moments, this could be a good time to take a good honest look at what you’re attached to, and maybe do the scary but liberating thing of letting that shit go. Release your grip and put it into God’s hands. “Jesus, take the wheel man. When I drive I keep crashing into bullsh*t.”
Remember that life moves in waves of light and dark. There are natural cycles happening everywhere, all around us and within us too. Understanding these cycles and where we are within them is a key part of navigating our challenges with more grace and peace. Here’s a video where I talk more about this topic and how to feel good again when you’re going through hard times.
Give yourself love. Look in the mirror and say something like “Hey kid, I see that you’re going through a hard time, and I want you to know it’s ok. I’m here for you and I love you. We’re going to get through this together. I won’t abandon you. I love you and I’m proud of you for how far you’ve come. Don’t give up. Things are going to get better, you’ll see.”
Give thanks. Remember you are a blessed and sacred creature fortunate enough to experience this precious human birth, and even if it may not feel like it, you have so much going for you. If you have access to the internet you are one of the most privileged people on the planet. When you lift your mind out of your misery and look up from that muddy puddle you will see a whole new world of possibilities swirling around you like a cosmic fractal ready to bend to your creative visions. So stop staring at the mud and look up at the stars. You got this kid, just get your head out of your butt!
Focus on helping others. Sometimes the best way to get ourselves out of our own misery is to extend a hand to help someone out of theirs. It’s easy to get into a state of fear and start acting from a place of scarcity and trying to fix things. Instead, ask yourself, how can I create value for others? Write a blog post that tries to help others. Follow that golden thread and I promise you it will lead somewhere good.
Do your part. When we turn our minds and hearts towards God and ask this Universal force to lead the way, we have to be ready to take action. So pay attention to what feels right. Look for those places where you can step up and act. Take the action, and then let go of the results. Surrendering to God is not a passive giving up. It’s an active state that balances action, inspiration, and receptivity. So stay open, show up, and take action. Do your part and trust that life will do hers.
Rest and eat well. When you’re going through hard times, this is the best time to make sure you are well-rested and well-fed. This is not the time to drain and deprive yourself. This is the time to fill your tank for the path ahead. I don’t know about you but when I’m tired, I become more sensitive and more prone to that negativity that wants to drag me down. So this can be challenging because it requires discipline to say no to people (and to Netflix) so you can say yes to yourself. If you’re going to wake up early and invest in your spiritual hygiene, remember that your early morning starts the night before. Go to bed honey, you need your rest.
Find healthy outlets for sadness, anger, and fear. Dig a hole in the earth and scream into it. Get out the paints and go wild with color and form. Let go of trying to make anything look good or be right, and just let yourself wildly flail around and release all that energy that’s been building up in you. Find healthy outlets for this stuff you’re carrying inside. Let it out and let it go. You’ll feel better.
Feed your mind uplifting material that helps you feel good, like my other blog post 12 Tips to Feel Good.

So, What's been hard for me?

I recently went traveling to Bali and because of my shifting location on the globe, it set off some security alarm within the Facebook algorithm around confirming the user's identity and I GOT SHUT DOWN ON FACEBOOK (click to watch a video about it). Well, sort of. I lost publishing rights to my page where I have 250K followers. You can read more about it here.

Coincidentally, this came at a time when I’ve been recognizing the extreme vulnerability of relying on my Facebook page for my connection to my audience, as well as my source of income, which it has been over the last 3 years since my following there grew to a size where I could make money from my videos from the ad revenue. I’ve had friends who completely lost their pages and everything they’ve built there.

This is especially scary because I do different charity projects in my local community feeding elders, dogs, and children, which are entirely dependent on my page and what I earn there. I know no matter what I’ll be ok, but I’m afraid that if my page goes, I won’t be able to sustain these charity projects.

I started feeling fearful it could happen to me too, and then BAM!

The good news is that my page is not completely lost, I'm just locked out temporarily (they say it could take up to 2 weeks for it to come back). But in the meantime, it’s making me even more hyper-aware of the importance of growing my other channels and avenues for connection with the sweet souls in this world who enjoy and benefit from watching my content, and who want to be my friend through it all.

So, here are the ways we can stay connected outside of my Facebook page:

My email list - This is our direct connection, should anything ever happen to my social media platforms (like what’s happening now with Facebook). My email list is the place where I will release the link to my future retreats, special offers like bracelets and malas from Bali, monthly giveaways, and other fun stuff.
My Youtube channel - I’ve had a funny road with Youtube. It’s where all my content started 8 years ago when I started making my 1-minute daily video blogs. Over the years, I wandered away in favor of my Facebook page, but with the latest drama on my page, I’ve been inspired to pick my old page up again. Be sure to follow me there for fresh content made just for Youtube.
My Instagram - For a while there I was taking my FB LIVES and putting them on IG, but I think I’m going to stop that now and instead make fresh, weekly content just for IG.
My subscriber group - "Erica’s High Vibe Tribe” is a smaller, more intimate community within Facebook that affords us the chance to have more one-on-one connections. It’s a great refuge for those who don’t care for the negativity and drama of the larger FB page, but still want to interact on the familiar FB platform in a safe and loving space full of kind and kindred spirits who love following my content and want to feel like they’re a part of the adventure. It’s a place to make new friends, not just with me, but with other like-minded people who are striving to live their best life. There I also share behind-the-scenes content not released anywhere else, and because it’s a smaller, safer space, I also share personal things I don’t share with the public audience. I find it’s a great resource for my silent watchers to feel safe to come closer and also for my friends who just want to support me and my house project in Guatemala (which feels pretty shaky right now, which is another challenge of these challenging times).
I started a TikTok channel started with bursts of inspiration and motivation to help you feel good.

Last thing!

If you want to have the time and space to get to know me personally, then I invite you to step into the High Vibe Tribe. It’s a small group online (through Facebook) where we meet every two weeks to go deeper with each other than we can do on these larger online pages. It’s great for those silent watchers who have been following my journey for a while but don’t care to interact on those larger pages where drama sometimes stirs up. Give it a try for a month or two and see if you like it!

I hope to see you there and have the chance to get to know you better! ❤️

JOIN ERICA'S HIGH VIBE TRIBE