This may take you back a few years, but whenever I hear the term “good grief,” I think of Charlie Brown, looking puzzled and confused.
Grief is an emotion that can be puzzling and confusing.
You move into a new and better home but feel a sense of loss for the one you left. You graduate from school, but now you feel the sting of saying goodbye to all your friends.
Then there’s the toughest subject of them all, the one they don’t cover in school: death.
We think we are prepared, especially when given advance notice, but when the moment of truth hits, we may still find ourselves on an emotional rollercoaster. One moment we are strong and accepting, and in the next moment we are filled with sadness.
Over the years I’ve learned various ways to help transform emotions such as grief and sadness into positive alternatives such as courage and confidence. I’ve put many of these practices to the test over the years, but when the rubber hits the road, I’ve found the fastest, easiest way to disconnect from and transform grief and sadness is the practice of Dao Zou.
When I first learned this shamanic walking technique, I had no idea it would transform negative emotions into positives, and do so without any conscious effort. There was nothing to visualize, nothing specific to think. There were no affirmations, no mantras and no need to even BELIEVE it would work. Just do the practice and notice what happens.
The first time I realized that Dao Zou helped me transcend grief took place when my goof friend, Mark Ferris, passed away five years ago.
I went for a long walk to come to grips with the new reality I faced. Yet, when I returned home and took a seat, despite walking for well over an hour, I was inexplicably out of sorts.
And then, oddly enough, I sensed that I could hear Mark talking to me, saying, “Hey Furey. Don’t be a dumb ass. You know what to do. Get up and practice Dao Zou.”
So I got off the sofa and began to move, and within 200 steps, I was at changed. I was at peace.
I was stunned.
Later that afternoon, another wave of grief arrived. I got up and repeated the morning session, and once again, within 200 steps I was at ease.
When my father passed away earlier this year, I employed the same technique, albeit for a longer period of time as 200 steps wouldn’t do the job. Every evening, when a big wave would arrive, I would begin transforming the energy I felt into something calmer. Around 800 steps I would be feeling great, but I would keep going until I got to 2,000, as I teach in the course. Then I would stand and feel the vibration pulsating throughout my legs and torso.
The above protocol is what I would call turning bad grief into good.
When grief is considered good, it ain’t all that bad.
More importantly, Dao Zou is a program you can do when times are tough or you’re experiencing negative emotions of any kind, as well as when you want to increase your fitness, athleticism and/or brain training.
Don’t believe it will work for you?
That’s good.
Why?
Because Dao Zou has nothing to do with your beliefs. It works whether you believe it will work or not because it taps a cybernetic function of the brain and nervous system. More on that some other time.
Just keep in mind the idea that grief is good. It’s an opportunity to rise above what you’re currently dealing with.
Here endeth the lesson.
Matt Furey
P.S. A hearty “thank you” to all of you who reached out to me last week. Much appreciated. Much obliged.
