Close your eyes.
Look inside.
Your treasure lies within.
When the breath calms,
Clarity comes.
Then You Know.
J. SAUVÉ
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Your true nature is as clear as the mirror of a peaceful lake... photo Julie SAUVÉ 2009 |
In his handbook of meditations and reflections Be Still and Know, Thich Nhat Hanh gives wonderful insight on mindfulness.
Everyday, I practice mindfulness to the best of my abilities. I try with good and a sincere intention. But coming from a background where efficiency and multi-tasking is part of the road to perfection, my effort to let go of perfectionnism and be present and mindful is grand...but quite achievable nonetheless.
In his short reflection Mindfulness and The Holy Spirit, Thic Nhat Hanh writes:
« The Buddha was asked, «Sir, what do you and your monk practice?» He replied,
«We sit, we walk, and we eat.» The questioner continued, «But sir, everyone sits, walks,
and eats,» and the Buddha told him, «When we sit, we know we are sitting. When we
walk, we know we are walking. When we eat, we know we are eating.» In Buddhism,
our effort is to practice mindfulness in each moment - to know what is going on within
and all around. »
During my Yoga Teacher Training, and even some time before, during the many workshop and intensive classes I attended, my teacher gave us numerous meditations and exercises to practice on mindfulness. In order to develop awareness in our actions and thoughts, practice is key. Practice develops capacity and sets mindfulness as a canevas to our daily - every moment - actions. Practice and repetition done with mindfulness has the ability to trasnform any behavior into a new one... I know myself, from experience, that repetition alone does not transform. It helps but when it reaches an inner resistance, it may and usually does collapse. However, mindful actions, rooted at the very source of presence, can never be displaced. It can only gain in intensity of goodness, just like grass grows even through great disruption and adversity. Grass grows though concrete and outlives war.
The discipline with which I practice my asanas is undeniable, but discipline alone in confronting my inner turmoil is a challenge. I remember my self going on strike a few times...and I did it fully aware and in total mindfulness. It lasted the time it lasted - the NOT meeting ME strike ! Observing the phenomenon of resistance with which I was avoiding the sitting to meditate - on mindfulness - made me think at one point that I could invest the same energy and determination in facing myself in the dis-comfort of my inner craziness... It should be called inner-artistic-explosive-genious thinking in my view...
At that moment, I concluded that awareness preceeds mindfulness. Awareness does not justify any wrongful action - not at all - but it certainly is the only device that enables you to observe if you are present and mindful or not. That’s a wonderful good start. When you see yourself from the eyes above, that IS a wonderful safe feeling. Life, or YOU, is watching...along with the Spirit.
And so, everyday and/or every moment, I invite you to try and be as present and mindful as possible. The reality is that there seems to be so much to do in so little time. But is there really ?...or are we overloading ourselves with things to do to avoid really getting to know our real Self ? Are we taking refuse in overwork just to avoid confronting our inner turmoil ? No one else but us can really assess what exactly is going on there. Thus, the «date» with yourself...
I know I did avoid the ultimate «date» with myself for the longest time...more than two decades of it. And only when I became so physically exhausted and emotionally drained of running around and spreading myself north-south-east and west, that I had to stop. Ultimately, I had no choice. I had to sit down, sit still, and sit quiet just to stop the spinning inside. The velocity and speed to which the chaos was swirling was of such magnitude, I believe I was dizzy and felt lost for many months. Something I remembered quite well at that point was that, THIS SHALL PASS TOO. Just like the clouds travel in and out of sight, so do feelings, thoughts and situations. And if you sit quietly, breathing deeply long enough, you’ll weather the storm inside without running from it. You will be just like a palm tree in a tornado... strong and flexible. With time, and yes practice, you create a giant haven within you, spacious and peaceful, a place where YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE and where - You just Know.
DO ONE THING AT A TIME...
Practicing extreme physical and technical sports require full presence. It’s exactly why I choose to challenge myself doing it. It gives me a setting and a space in which my full attention is required. It locks in my energy and determination, where the focus is to transform fear into excitement of going through the challenge... Succeeding is not the focus but going through the process is... The reason we fear is because we think of the end result, not the process.
The secret is to get excited about the realization of the task, the process...that’s the walk. If you have no hint of excitment about achieving it, well maybe it’s not the right challenge for you. For me, it spans from jumping of a plane, to climbing a mount on the rocky-icy side instead of the easy side, or just trying a new sport or anything small but new.
The idea is to do one thing everyday that challenges you. The idea is not to do something big, it’s to do something small in a great way. That’s what life’s about really. You’ll get the excitement going pretty quickly and the wanting more very fast! That’s what is «building capacity». We have just forgotten to challenge ourselves to do new things really. As a toddler, think of how the world and things seemed big and how the natural reflex was to want to stand up, move foreword, look up, want more, grow ?! Well, the same is now in the present. It’s all there. For you to bite and jump into! Just do it, NIKE said. They got one of the best marketing slogan I have ever heard. It just resonates everytime. Get up and BE YOU! All YOU!
So, here the suggestion - on a small scale - but mindful:
This exercise I still try everyday beside being mindful in longer activities, like cooking or sports.
TRY TO DO ONE THING AT A TIME.
Do One Thing..
When you think about getting a glass of water, try just getting the glass of water. Notice afterwards (especially you ladies!) if, along the way, you picked up something to bring somewhere else, or if you finally had your glass of water after having done a few things... try to just do ONE thing. ONE. You’ll see for yourself, the task at hand is small... and GRAND!
Look In The Mirror...Deeply
Something else is good. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? Of course you have. Really? Take a good moment to look at yourself - deeply - in the mirror. You know, the kind of look you have to zoom in with your eyes and zoom out because you’re not quite certain of the view you have... Well, take the time to really look until you see yourself with the step back - the eyes that look from above - AND the eyes that look from within. The ones that can see through your eyes as the gateway through your Soul. These eyes. They are the ones that know compassion, and laugh when needed and give you that drop dead gorgeous look about yourself even when things - just seem - no to be so up to par... They just KNOW.
And smile...
With much Yoga Love Life,
Julie
