We’ve been talking about nature – Nature – for the past few newsletters. Okay, I’ve been talking and you’ve, presumably, been listening. (Remember, that comment space down there is to establish a dialog.)
Sometimes Nature gets really overwhelming and it’s really hard to stay connected. We’ve had a lot of that lately . . . floods, droughts, wildfires. All pretty scary stuff. Even from a distance, and especially when we’re in the midst of it. Chaos in our climate.
If we look from macrocosm to microcosm, we see things like fevers or tumours or other reactions to the chaos that can develop in our physical systems. Anxiety. Debility. Things that lead us to the fear of the other “D” word.
It can be really tempting to give up and pretend that we can dwell only in the spirit and mind. We won’t even try to play with the big boys and girls.
Did you notice that word “pretend”? Sorry to say, when we cut off consciousness to the physical, we’re also cutting off from mind and spirit. They’re a package deal, folks. Can you say “delusion”?
So what do we do when nature/Nature gets that big and scary?
There’s a long and a short version of that story and they’re both spelled “m-e-d-i-t-a-t-i-o-n”.
We’ve got this amazing connector between our various aspects: breath.
The short version is, pay attention to your breathing when you’re confronted with the immensity and chaos of life. Get all Greek goddess and just do it.
The long version is, pay attention to your breathing. Really pay attention. Which nostril is taking in more air at the moment? What moves when you breathe? Do you like exhaling more than inhaling? Which takes longer? Is every breath the same? Do you breathe more into one side of the body than the other? More into the front or back? Are there sobs or sighs happening on the way in or out?
Look, you’re still alive, so you’ve been breathing “correctly” so far. The point is not to do it “right”; it’s to be attentive to that basic connection between your body, mind and spirit.
You don’t really have a choice about staying with nature/Nature. Let your breath help you not to lose your mind or spirit as you stay with the difficult times in your body.