Movement Meditation
“We’re fascinated by the words, but where we meet is in the silence behind them.”
~ Ram Dass
As life begins to return to a new normal, I am aware of how noisy the world is. I wasn’t before. I wasn’t listening, busying myself with my work, my family, my life. But when the world stopped, there was silence. A silence which I suspect many of us have never experienced before. Certainly those of us who live in big towns or cities, where it is never truly still.
For a few weeks that stillness was enforced upon us. At first I was unnerved. Fear peaking around each corner waiting to be invited in. Ready to take advantage of a fragile mind.
As each hour and each day passed, the stillness and quietness was accepted, cherished and then enjoyed. Things started moving again. I found myself reaching out to find that space. It brought clarity and calm.
As we all celebrated the cleaner air and observed nature reclaiming spaces that we thought long abandoned, I didn’t want to let go. Once again adapting to the change happening around me, the new routines, rules and procedures. I was loosing grip on the silence that I cherished just a few weeks before.
I didn’t know I needed it until it was given and then taken away.
There had to be another way.
I sit in my meditation practice each and everyday. The flat is almost never quiet with a young and energetic family, but I find my calm. I sit, surrender and accept the conditions I have at this moment and ground myself with gratitude. In this practice I realised that I don’t need a special cushion, candle or mantra. Only my willingness to allow things to be as they are.
I feel like I’ve levelled up. As I walk, I experience the sounds around me and the sensations inside. The unsettling clonks and clicks as I put one foot in front of the other. When I queue at the supermarket I check in with my posture, my breathing and what I’m feeling. When I am training, I am checking my balance, flexibility, momentum and force.
A moving meditation.
It’s life changing. Not only for the calm and space that it provides. I do things with real intention and attention. I can’t throw my body around like I used to without repercussions. Embracing this attention to detail reduces the chance of injury and opens up the door of possibility.
It’s also accessible to each and everyone of us. Every second of every day.
I invite you to sit, just for moment. A minute will do. Regardless of what is happening around you. What do you notice? How do you feel?
Take a deep breath. Let it go.