How do we get ourselves through big changes – the kind that threatens to shake us to our very core – while supporting ourselves – mind and body – so we maintain an ability to continue making positive change?
This is the second question I pose on the face of this platform.
It is one that came to me as I worked my way through the trials of 2020. I have big plans that I want to do with my own life, but along the way, I have no choice but to ride the waves that the world around me sends in my direction.
Sometimes those waves are small. Sometimes we can ride them out in a matter of minutes or hours, finding ourselves on the other side free to get on with our lives.
Sometimes though, these waves are a crushing series. We get hit with one after the other, and when we think the end may be in sight, we find ourselves caught up in another swell.
That was the reality of 2020, and here in the first weeks of 2021, the waves continue.
When we find ourselves in a situation where life around us feels too burdensome, and when we want to shut this noise out so that we can focus our attention on our own selves – our own well-being and our own goals – we have a choice.
That choice – we can choose to tune out the world. We can choose to bunker down and hold on desperately to our own selves.
Or, we can choose to tune into what is happening around us.
Making the choice to tune into what’s happening around is can be challenging, especially when the events aren’t impacting us directly.
We may happen to be healthy enough, live in a certain part of the world, or happen to have been born with the color of skin such that the deep problems of the Covid pandemic, climate change, and systemic racism in our world doesn’t directly impact us.
When that’s the case, we can choose to ignore the events of the world and continue to go about our lives the way we’d like. We can choose to invoke our own privilege of having drawn the lucky card.
I can’t make that choice for you nor would I try if I could. I don’t have all the information. I don’t know your life circumstances.
What I do want is for you to be capable of making the best choice – for you and for the world.
To enable this, I have a simple practice for you today. It’s one that kept me moving through the trials of 2020, keeping myself on a (mostly) forward path as I juggled my own dreams and goals with the events of the world around me.
As we move through life, we don’t have control over world events or the actions of others.
What we do have control of is our own actions.
Here, with this practice, my hope is that you are better able to take the best course of action in each moment.
Practice – Tune In
This practice is best done seated with your feet planted on the floor, sitting upright (no slouching). If needed, you can do it standing or lying down. I recommend closing your eyes, but if it makes you feel more comfortable then keep them open, allowing your gaze to fall softly on an object in front of you.
Turn your attention to your breath. I recommend picking one location in your body and keeping it there:
- Your nose and mouth as you inhale through the nose and out through the mouth
- Your rib cage as it expands with the inhale and contracts with the exhale
- Anywhere else you feel the breath enter in and exit out
Now, here’s the practice:
As you sit, your task is to simply witness the breath as it enters in and exits out.
Inhale and witness the breath enter in.
Exhale and witness the breath exit out.
Repeat.
That’s it. Simply witness. We’re not here to change anything with the breath. No need to control anything. Just witness.
If you find yourself having lost your attention on the breath and caught up in any thoughts, no problem. Just notice the thoughts and let them go as you turn your attention back to your breath.
Sit for as long as you need. That may be just as short as one minute or longer (10-15 minutes).
What is important is this: witness what happens as you tune into your breath. Notice what is able to melt away, and tune into what arises:
New perspective? New answers? New motivation?
More peace? Greater hope? Greater understanding?
Wherever you find yourself on the other side, my hope is it takes you one step closer to creating that brighter world we’re all looking for.