In the Present Moment*
How are you doing?
How was balance for you,
These last days?
How was
Self-care?
I am here to report—I tumbled this past week.
With indignation and righteousness,
With fury and disbelief
And a touch of Schadenfreude,
I found myself
Newly obsessed
With my news feed.
Might there be new-news,
Ten minutes
After my last
Anxious perusal?
Was He alive?
Or not…..
Sick….
Or full
Of
It?
After a few days
Of sympathetic nervous system
Overload,
I took stock.
I took hold
Of myself,
And
Of
My
Behavior.
I decided
To shift.
I committed to others
That I would
Put Phone on the other side
of
Bedroom.
I
Committed to others—
That I would
Not
Seek
Stimulation
Ongoingly
From this
Outrageously
Unstable
Of times.
I must
We must
Turn away.
I must
We must
Find solace.
I must
We must
Shift
Internal
Gears.
The sympathetic nervous system,
Once stimulated,
Once danger is reported,
we clamp down.
We hunker down.
We hold our breath.
We calcify around.
We fight the attack.
This is simply the brilliance of our brain,
The profundity of our nervous system
Doing its job.
I must
We must
Find solace.
Solace—breath—
Comfort—
Relaxation
Takes us
To the
Parasympathetic.
The rest
And
Digest
Nervous
System.
Biologically,
I must
We must
Find solace.
Here are two things
That softened
My belly,
That
Softened
My heart
This week.
~~~
First, I accidentally came across this music on-line. Accidently? Perhaps I was given this as a gift suited for my return home to solace. Who is this group? Hang Missive is a world music and ambient music duo that plays the Hang, a new-age percussion instrument. The visuals and the sounds of this ten-minute calmed me down, emptied me out, softened me up. Please enjoy:
The Secret of Touching Sun and Moon by Hang Missive
~~~
Later in my week, a friend sent me this link to a Thich Nhat Hanh meditation which I instantly ignored, feeling too busy to listen to allow a dear Zen master lead me in meditation. After a few days of ignoring him, my friend called to prod me onward. I said, “I can’t listen. I’m eating dinner.”
(OMG. Listen to me. I teach meditation.)
She, in her brilliance, said, “Listen to it while eating.”
Oh. I did. And then, I listened to a little more while folding clothes. And a little more in the bath. And a little more in bed.
Bring him into your life, this Master Monk. His voice alone, filled with kindness, returned me to ease. It’s 58 minutes. Take it into your life; stop and start. There is no right way to participate. Just—do it:
Thich Nhat Hanh, An Introduction to Mindfulness and Tranquility Meditation
~~~
Dear Friends,
Be safe, be well.
Cultivate
The
Circumstances
In which
You create
A strong back
And
A
A soft front.
Lean toward comfort,
Especially
When
It seems
Impossible.
It is right there,
Waiting.
All blessings,
Aruni F.
~~~
Announcements:
Cultivating Solace and Strengthening Resilience—Simple Strategies for Complicated Times.
There are a few more spaces available in my October 23 zoom retreat.
Please follow this link for more info.
Wisdom Circles
And what a time it is. Connect to yourself, to one another, and to our simple and sustainable teachings. Our circles are a simple and elegant form of Devotional listening, super-simple and super-impactful. They are held on Thursdays, @ 2:00 EST.
This week our Circle will be on Thursday, October 15, @ 2:00 EST.
Here is the link: http://coacharuni.com/thursdaycircles/
~~~
*Title quote by Thich Nhat Hanh