Tag: reflect within

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The art of stillness

Today has been a quiet one, as I am working my way through a bout of bronchitis and am feeling particularly tired and achy. Whenever illness strikes and I take a quiet day like this, I inevitably feel guilty or anxious at some point. I feel as though I should be ‘doing something’, being productive, contributing to the world around me. When these thoughts and feelings arise, I try to remind myself that by taking this time to rest, to heal, to nourish my body so that I may become healthy again, I am practicing Metta, lovingkindness, and this is in itself a contribution to the world. If we do not care for ourselves, we will not have the strength to engage with the world in a mindful and compassionate way. When we take the time to stop, to listen to the needs of our own mind and body, and to respond with lovingkindness and compassion, we strengthen our inner resources and we build the capacity to respond in a similarly kind and loving way to the needs of those around us.

Illness and injury can force us to stop and take stock, but we need not wait to become sick or hurt to reflect within. Our mindfulness practices give us that opportunity every day, and it is particularly powerful when we allow ourselves to find stillness. Stillness has the power to heal, to nourish, to calm, to enlighten. It invites us to look with new eyes upon ourselves and the world, to open ourselves to new ideas and possibilities. Pico Iyer said it beautifully: “In an age of speed, I began to think nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.”  

For more of Pico Iyer’s insight on the art of stillness, I invite you to enjoy his TED Talk.

Pico Iyer TED Talk, The art of stillness
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Lest we forget

Handmade ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, honouring the sacrifice of British soldiers in WWI

On November 11th each year, we remember the fallen, those who made the ultimate sacrifice, who gave their lives so that we might live in freedom.  Over the years, no matter where in the world I was living on November 11th, I always watched the Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa and honoured our many heroes with a moment of silence and reflection.  Hearing that lone bugle play The Last Post never fails to bring tears to my eyes, and I reflect with awe and deep respect on the young men and women who have left their families behind to defend against tyranny and protect our freedom.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that signalled the end of World War I, as well as Canada’s Hundred Days, a three-month stretch of extraordinary Canadian Corps victories from August 8th to November 11th, 1918.  The last living veteran of WWI died in 2012 – Florence Green, a British woman who served in the Allied armed forces; the last living Canadian veteran of WWI was John Babcock, who died in 2010.  With no remaining voices to share firsthand stories of those harrowing years, it is left to us to honour their memory and remember their sacrifice.

When we speak of mindfulness practice, our focus is usually on connecting to the present moment.  We remind ourselves that the past is gone, the future is not yet here, and the present moment is the only moment we are guaranteed.  While dwelling on past events can cause us suffering, remembering loved ones who are no longer with us can also give us perspective, teaching us lessons that we can apply to our present moment experience.  Bringing mindful awareness to our collective past helps connect us to the wisdom of that history so that we might use that knowledge to guide us on the journey ahead. What better way to honour sacrifice than to learn from the circumstances that led to it and avoid such sacrifice in the future?

It has been 100 years since the ‘war to end all wars’ came to an end.  To look at the world around us now, it might seem that we have learned little at all from our collective history, as we continue to repeat the same mistakes and fight the same battles a century later.  We can see echoes of this in the microcosm of our meditation practice – the same thought patterns, the same judgements, the same self-criticisms coming up time and again.  We could throw up our hands in despair and give up any hope of achieving peace – within ourselves, and in the world around us – or we could continue our mindful practices in earnest, radiating lovingkindness, compassion, acceptance and equanimity.  As Mahatma Gandhi reminded us: “A thousand candles can be lighted from the flame of one candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened.”  Our candle is lit from within and the flame grows stronger and brighter as we continually cultivate peace and love and compassion in our hearts.  At first glance, our practice might seem to strengthen only our own flame, and we might think sharing it could diminish its brightness; in fact, that strength empowers us to light a thousand more candles.  By cultivating our practice, by nourishing our own inner flame, we can help spread lovingkindness around the world – and maybe someday we can achieve the peace for which so many have fought and sacrificed.

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Letting go

Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting. ~ Jack Kornfield

Autumn is my favourite season. I revel in its riot of colours, I breathe in deeply its crisp and refreshing air, I nourish myself with its abundant harvest of fruits and vegetables, and like a joyful child I dance my way through piles of leaves and relish the sound of their crunching beneath my feet.  Autumn greatly appeals to my nature as an introvert – I love spending quiet time alone curled up with a good book, puttering in the kitchen making hearty soups and savoury preserves with my fall bounty from the farmer’s market.  Autumn is a season tailor-made for homebodies like me.

You may have noticed that over the last few weeks there have been some common threads woven through my posts. These threads are an integral part of the larger tapestry that is Autumn and all that this season means for us on a physical and energetic level.  The daylight wanes and the temperatures cool; the natural world sheds its summer clothes and quietly prepares for winter slumber.  Though our busy modern life seems to draw us ever farther from our connection to nature, when we take the time to listen to our bodies, to listen to our inner selves and the innate wisdom we have within us, we realise that we are deeply moved and shaped by the rhythm of the changing seasons.

Traditional Chinese Medicine teaches us that our vital energy moves through channels in our body called meridians, nourishing all of our cells and tissues.  The meridian lines are connected to organ systems, and while there are clear links to the Western understanding of organ function, TCM also assigns other physical and energetic attributes to these systems.  TCM also acknowledges the important role that the seasons of the natural world play in our physical and energetic well-being.  The autumn season is associated with the Lung and Large Intestine meridians.  These organs separate what is essential from what is waste; they eliminate what is unnecessary or toxic and welcome what will nourish and heal.  Their energy is one of ‘letting go’, releasing what no longer serves us, creating space to respond to our changing needs so that we have room to grow and move forward on our path.

When we avoid introspection, when we turn away from ourselves and ignore the signals being sent by our mind and body, we are fighting a battle we cannot win.  We are an integral part of the natural world. What if rather than struggling against its changing nature, we relaxed and softened into that change? What if rather than clinging tightly to what we know, we released our grip and let go, making space for something new? Autumn is a time for us to dive within and plumb the depths of our experience. Let yourself be nourished by the changing season. Open your heart and your mind to whatever comes, and release what it is time to let go.

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Sweet surrender

Savasana is one of the most challenging poses in our asana practice.  It is also one of the most rewarding, and the most necessary.  We lie down, our body relaxes, our breath slows, and our attention withdraws from the external world.  It sounds so simple, and yet this beautiful, healing repose runs counter to everything that has come to characterise modern life.  Our minds are busy and we fill our days with ever-growing to do lists.  We are constantly climbing the dizzying heights of our expectations; each time we reach a summit, we seek out the next peak and begin our climb anew.  What if, instead of always climbing to the sky, we lay down upon the earth and paused to welcome stillness?  What if, instead of always ‘doing’, we embraced the present moment and took the time to simply be?

Savasana is Sanskrit for corpse pose. Visionary teacher BKS Iyengar often ended his classes with two words of instruction: be dead.  To truly absorb and integrate all the benefits of our asana practice, we must surrender fully to stillness.  We must let go of our need to be constantly in motion, to be always thinking and doing and moving forward towards something.  In stillness lies profound beauty and healing, kindness and wisdom.  In stillness we come home to ourselves; we recharge, refocus, and remember that we are already enough exactly as we are.

Savasana is one of the extraordinary gifts of our yoga practice, and it is one that we should invite off the mat and into our daily life.  As autumn arrives, the natural world around us is in transition, letting go of summer blooms and preparing for a long winter’s sleep.  Our physical and energetic bodies naturally crave this same sense of letting go and finding rest.  However, our busy minds try to divert us from this course, continuing the climb to the sky.  If we could release our attachment to those busy thoughts and let ourselves be guided by our intuition, we would find that what serves us best in fall is reconnecting to the peace and stillness of the earth.

As the temperature cools and the days grow shorter, attune to the innate wisdom that lies within you.  Relax your grip on the busyness of your mind.  Release yourself from doing and take time to simply be.  Lie down, let go, and feel the earth support your weight. Sink into that nurturing support and let yourself find the sweet surrender of Savasana.

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Autumn reflections

Each new season brings change; whether subtle or profound, we are all affected by the changing nature of the world around us. In autumn, we see shorter days and cooler temperatures. Depending on where we live, there might be a riot of colour to signal its arrival, one last hurrah before the natural world settles into slumber.

The needs of our minds and bodies also change with each new season. After the expansive, external energy that the heat of summer brings, we find ourselves drawing inward as fall arrives. We feather our nests and get cozy, we nourish our bodies with warming foods made from the bounty of fall’s harvest.  This is a time for introspection, for gazing within and connecting to our heart and to our intuition.  All of the answers to our biggest, most pressing life questions lie within us, but we rarely take the time to listen openly and honestly to our inner guides.

Let autumn be a time to embark upon an inward journey.  Mine the depths of your soul with compassion and lovingkindness and see what treasures you uncover. With open-hearted awareness, attune to the subtle rhythms of your body and your breath, as you dive deep inside to connect to the wisdom that lies within.

Autumn is a time for nourishing food, nourishing practices, nourishing community with friends and loved ones. We shore up our inner resources to support us during the dark and cold of winter that lies ahead. A vital part of our autumn ritual is also adequate time alone and in stillness to attend to the needs of our mind, our body, and our spirit. We take this time to reflect on how these needs may be changing and how we can best respond to them; we reflect on what is serving us well in our life, and what it is time to release.  In autumn, we can let go of what no longer serves and supports us, and we can make space for new experiences and ideas that will help us to learn and grow on our path.

What practices can you invite into your fall routine that will nourish you deeply and allow you to explore your inner landscape? Make time for yourself. Make time for stillness and quiet. Make time for healing and for letting go. Welcome spaciousness into your heart and your mind, making room for love, for gratitude, and for possibility.

 

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Giving thanks

In Canada, today is a day of giving thanks for all of the blessings in our life. We have so much to be grateful for on any given day, even in times of challenge and duress.  I am deeply grateful to all of you for your kindness and support, and as a gift on this day of Thanksgiving, I offer you a new meditation called Find Peace in Gratitude. I hope you enjoy it and it helps to remind you of all that you have to be thankful for.

Here is a favourite quote that I often see shared at this time of year, from author Melody Beattie:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates and vision for tomorrow.

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Be bodacious

Each of us has the right, the possibility to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. Be bodacious enough to invent yourself.  ~Maya Angelou

A dear friend shared this quote with me recently.  The words of Maya Angelou never cease to inspire and amaze me with their insight and wisdom.  With each day comes new possibilities, new opportunities. And yet, how often do we truly explore them?  How often do we have the courage and audacity to fully embrace change, to evolve, to invent ourselves daily? I suspect that for most of us, the hurdle that lies between us and invention is our own inner critic, the judgments we lay upon ourselves over and over that limit our ability to love and accept who we are in each and every moment.

The first step on the eight-limbed yogic path is Ahimsa, non-violence.  To practice Ahimsa means to do no harm in thought, word or deed – no harm to ourselves, to others, to the world around us.  To practice Ahimsa we must truly embody compassion and lovingkindness, and this begins with ourselves.  The Dalai Lama asks: “What is love? Love is the absence of judgment.”  Through mindfulness we seek to observe each moment, each thought, emotion, and sensation, without judgment or attachment.  Our mindful awareness shines a light on our inner critic and when these judgments are exposed and identified, they begin to lose their power over us.

In my classes I often invite students to turn their gaze inward, to reflect within. Both yoga and meditation are internal practices that enable us to know our true selves, to connect with the innate wisdom and beauty that lies deep within us.  The trouble is that to reach this inner sanctum, we must slay dragons like self-doubt and fear, we must awaken from what author / meditation teacher Tara Brach calls the trance of unworthiness and fill ourselves to the brim with compassion, with lovingkindness, with acceptance of all that we are and all that we can be.  Armed with the power of self-love and true acceptance, we can connect to our intuition and plumb the depths of our wisdom to guide us on our journey, our evolution, the bodacious invention of ourselves daily.