How often have you felt desperate for a break from the routine of everyday life? But when it arrives, it often doesn't feel how we expected.
Modern life is full on. Most of us dream about being able to slow down, have more time for ourselves, and take rest. But in reality, a pause in our busy-ness can feel uncomfortable. We start to question our direction, we feel less needed and valued, our mind can go into over-drive. Sometimes it seems easier to avoid the discomfort of this state in a non-stop chain of engagements and to-dos.
The Ancient traditions repeatedly advise us to seek out stillness and quiet to better understand ourselves and the nature of life. However, this goes against the Western consumerist mindset we have been surrounded by all our lives.
"Do you have the patience
to wait till your mud settles
and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?
The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things."
Lao Tzu
(from chapter 15 of the Tao Te Ching, 4-6th Century BC, translation by Stephen Mitchell)
Finding stillness in Yin Yoga
Discovering the 'liminal space'
Over the last few years I've been working on my tolerance to sit with my emotions in the "Liminal Space". This is a concept I heard about from Rob Bell - a place of not knowing, transition, waiting. Only a couple of years ago it felt an unbearable place to be in, but I've learnt that being able to stay here means that new growth can happen, it's that sticky cocoon phase from which new beginnings, creativity and change emerges.
"That’s a good space where genuine newness can begin. Get there often and stay as long as you can by whatever means possible…This is the sacred space where the old world is able to fall apart, and a bigger world is revealed. If we don’t encounter liminal space in our lives, we start idealizing normalcy."
Richard Rohr
I wish you courage to stay with the process, if this what you are experiencing at this time. Take plenty of deep, slow breaths and remember the caterpillar has to dissolve in it's cocoon before it transforms into a butterfly.
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