Lively Quiet in Uncertain Times
An essential beginning of rising to the many demands of our currently uncertain times is to quite simply want to remain effective, dynamic, engaged and elastic in our entire instrument of self. Most current events are out of our hands (except washing our hands to our favorite song du jour). Choice in response remains an endless exploration, as long as we are alive.
If we want to remain effective, dynamic, engaged and elastic, we begin from quieting. This does not mean freezing or retreating, but to request quiet throughout our entire self. A dynamic pause of even a few moments can shift mental chatter, calm muscular tensions, slow a racing heart and loosen a tight jaw. This request for quiet works best in conjunction with seeing and hearing the world outside yourself. Our brains, diaphragms, vestibular systems rely upon sensory information to calibrate response.
Here are some examples of how I gather data and make decisions in the interest of best outcome for remaining effective:
I notice my jaw is tight, as though I am holding the world and my life together with my teeth. I don’t want a tight jaw, and I know better than to change the jaw directly (direct change of a part never works), so I ask for overall quiet and connection to the ground, which is always there to support me. After some moments of cheerful requests for quiet, I am more keenly aware of birdsongs and tree blossoms and the faces of dear ones 6 feet away. My entire response has eased and expanded. A choice was made.
Sleepless worry disrupts much needed rest. Whispered ah and the thought that breath moves through my entire spinal system of curves, nourishing all of my systems, rocking me gently on a wave from within and without….the mental/emotional chatter retreats, my overall bracing undoes and sleep embraces me.
A furrowed brow and mental spin indicate information overload. I turn off the radio, leave the news unread, and dance around the apartment like a wild maniac. Laughter and vigor dispel the gloom, at least for now. Easy enough to repeat the wild dancing!
Creative solutions elude me. I notice I am all up in my forehead as though my facial muscles can find the answers. A dynamic pause allows me to notice gravity coming through my feet and sitting bones, eliciting internal, invisible support through my torso, allowing my limbs to undo out of my entire breathing back. A sense of global connection for this time in which we are living moves through me.
Solutions for each of us and all of us depend on our own refinement in response. We are integrated beings, inseparable in our own emotional, mental and physical systems. Now is the time to make our best integration possible, for the sake of the wider community beyond us.
