Reconnecting With Life
When the world hurts, we would rather escape. So we shop or
eat or watch a lot of tv or turn to friends to keep us busy. Yet when we do
reconnect with life, something wonderful happens. We rediscover that life is
mysterious and beautiful, awe inspiring and uplifting even as it sometimes
hurts. Reconnecting gives us back the bits of ourselves that we had given over
to stress, worry, problems and difficulties. It frees our time, our imaginations
and our creativity. So here are some ideas for you to explore:
Trust Our Bodies We live in or heads
and do not trust the flesh, yet bodies are wise. They warn us of danger and they
delight us when we are at ease.
Slow Down Walk when you can rather than
riding.
Be present while walking rather than planning the next project in
your mind. It is not time wasted but time saved.
Take Time Off Take a bit of time to do
what you want every day. A woman I know who had ten kids had a magic hour when
she was not to be disturbed for any reason. (Well, maybe a death. But that was
it.) It kept her real, reconnected with who she was as an individual and not as
a mom and gave her time to breathe.Use your time to putter in the garden, to
sing, to walk, to exercise but do all these for no other purpose than to be with
yourself. That's when you open to your real creativity.
Cultivate Awareness All spiritual
traditions have a technique such as prayer, meditation, contemplation or
journeying that brings them to their still point. Yoga, meditation and Chi Kung
are activities that also can bring you back to your still point. They aren't
designed so much to still us, however, as they are to put us firmly in the here
and now, where we can become more aware of what is happening around us. 5
minutes a day can make a world of difference.
Say Grace Grace is a way to actually
feel (not just think) grateful for all of the people and events and conditions
that brought your food to you as well as being grateful to a higher power that
made the whole thing possible. But it can be more affirming than that. It can
also about connecting with the food itself. So, play with your food. Take note
of the different flavours. Try not to evaluate them but just become aware of
them with scent and taste and sight and sound and touch. Paying attention to
food brings some of the quieter tastes alive again and we don't need to blast
our taste buds so much. By noticing each ingredient of a meal, you open to the
unique quality it adds to the meal. Slowing down to taste as you eat can make an
ordinary bowl of cereal an adventure.
Move From Passive To Active If you
prefer to observe sports, play outside instead now and then. Turn off the tv and
build something or read a story aloud or take a walk.
Bring More Of Your Senses Into Everyday Activities
Notice the changes from room to room -- as you enter a new room
or move from indoors to outdoors, notice the shape of the enclosure, the changes
in scent, texture, and colour. If you are doing a lot of reading through the
day, engage other senses. Touch the book, smell the pages. If you're on your
feet a lot, change your shoes, turn yourself upside down for a bit, and become
aware with your other senses what is happening around you.
Mix Your Senses Up Try seeing with your
body, hearing with your taste and feeling with your sight. The african violet
flower might look purple but what does that colour of purple feel like? Is is
hot or cold, soft or sharp? If it was a food, would it taste more like bananas
or berries? This may seem like an exercise in imagination but it leads you to a
more direct understanding of how you perceive things. It opens you up.
Other ideas? If you have any other
ideas to add to this page, email me and let me know what they are.
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