Hectic… yeah well, for many of us, that might sound like a pretty mild choice of words. Crazy, out-of-control, chaotic and sometimes frightening can also seem fitting when we look at our world today. But if the outside world is making your head spin, allow me to suggest that you were never intended to find peace outside of yourself. In today’s whacked out world, your connection to the divine, the peace, the answers, the new world… is right inside you. Yes, the world has gotten a bit more than exciting in recent years, so all the more reason to make some time for peace.
Many of you know that I teach meditation so you might be now expecting me to “crack the whip” and insist you sit in silence on your cushion chanting Om for 20 minutes morning and night. If that is what calms you, then go for it. But for the average Westerner… sitting and stilling the mind is a grand challenge. For me personally, chanting/singing kirtan is wonderfully refreshing and powerful when practiced with a group… but that group isn’t always hanging around my patio when the crap has hit the fan. So what to do?
The key to calm is different for each of us. But I think it often begins in the same place… to bring yourself into this moment. We can’t change the past, we can’t predict the future. We CAN enjoy this moment. So focus a bit on savoring this second. And remember to breathe. A teacher who kindly emails me daily, Paramahamsa Hariharananda, has convinced me over the years that I cannot maintain anger, anxiety or even fear if I breathe. So use those lungs folks… a deep inhale to fully inflate the lungs, even expanding the belly to relax more. Then exhale and release whatever needs to flow out of you. Five good, deep, slow breaths then breathe normally with attention to using more of your lung capacity is so incredibly calming.
Beyond this… pursue your passion, eat well, drink lots of pure water that didn’t come packaged in a plastic bottle to further choke our landfills. Sounds like I’ve got more to share in the future. Breathing. 😉
Enjoy your day.
Seek much love and joy on your journey
peace
su