Is Surrendering a Sign of Power?
Bestselling author Judith Orloff shares the secret weapon of surrendering.
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By Vicky Thompson
Originally published March 1, 2014 Do you feel the emotions or pain of others as if these sensations were your own? If you pick up energy like a magnet, then you may be a physical empath, according to Dr. Judith Orloff, author of The Ecstasy of Surrender. “I can feel if somebody is having pain or if they are anxious or if they are angry or if they are joyous, positive and loving. I can feel all of it in my body as a result of my energy field. But the problem is that I can take it into my body and become exhausted or ill from it,” says Orloff, who is a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and an acknowledged physical empath. So if you have mystery symptoms or have been labeled a hypochondriac, the real problem may be that you absorb the symptoms of other people around you. Through surrender, Orloff has developed a process for letting go of old habits for dealing with illness and negative energy, helping physical empaths not to take on the weight of the world. Why surrender? What is the advantage of going beyond your comfort zone, not just for physical empaths, but for everyone? “It is a secret weapon for health and wellness, success and intimacy. Surrender is the ability to know when to go forward with the flow of your life and when to hang back, what people to move toward, what people to be magnetized toward and what people to not surrender to,” says Orloff. Surrender isn’t about raising a white flag and falling back, Orloff says. There’s an art of surrender where you have the right balance of control and letting go, tapping into the right timing for moving ahead or waiting for a better moment. “Use your intuition, that still small voice inside that will tell you the truth about things and whether to move forward or whether to go back. Then you will know it is about sensing into life instead of just living up in your head all the time and making decisions that are just linear or mental,” says Orloff. Surrendering in Relationships When you’re having difficulties with someone you care about, you might want to control the situation. What steps can you take to surrender and heal the relationship? Don’t interrupt your partner when discussing difficult issues, Orloff advises. Hear the person out, as difficult as it may be to hear what they have to say or as wrong as you think they are — listen. That is a way of surrendering your anxiety and need to respond immediately. Another big relationship tool is surrendering the need to be right. “Surrender resentment, surrender the need to be right all the time, have some humor, get in touch with the basic love you feel for the person and keep in mind your overall goal with the person, not just this one point. You might win the point but lose the relationship,” says Orloff. How can you surrender right now? Orloff suggests trying a daily surrendering stress meditation. Take three minutes where you stop everything. Take a few deep breaths, and drop into your body and out of your head. Begin to focus on your heart and then sense any loving positive thoughts you feel. If the negative thoughts come, picture them as floating by like clouds in the sky, not attaching. During this time, connect to spirit to remember you are part of a larger universe beyond this tiny planet. “So you gain perspective and then from that place, more relaxed, you go about your life,” says Orloff. Surrender to the ever-present grace in your life. Vicky Thompson is the editor-in-chief of New Connexion. |
Judith Orloff
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