There’s something nice about being connected. Whether we’re talking about knowing the ‘right’ people in business, having someone you love waiting for you at home, or even being part of a street gang, being connected is good. In the words of the West Side Story Jets… “You’re never alone… you’re never disconnected. You’re home with your own… when company’s expected… you’re well protected!.” But I digress. Being connected can come in handy in many situations. I, for example, use it in my yoga practice.
Before you start to snicker let me ask… Can you balance on one leg with your eyes closed? Oh? Really? Well, good. I can’t. In fact, even in simple tadasana, standing on both legs with feet pressed together, arches lifted, legs straight, and hands and arms hanging straight down at my sides, I need to focus on an eye-level spot on the wall across the room if I want to stand tall and still. I know this, because when I close my eyes and disconnect my visual contact with that spot, I begin to waver. It’s not that I fall on my butt, but I do lose that certain stability that seemed to exist when I was connected, however tenuously, to that external point – out there.
The solution, I found, is to visualize a tiny dot of light high above my head, inside my head, and feel myself connected to it and being pulled upward by it. Silly as it may sound, when I feel myself connected to that light, the teetering stops, and the fear of falling disappears. When I do it right, which is to say, when I focus on that inner connection so strongly that I forget to think about the world outside of and around me, I become still and firm in the pose just as I’m supposed to be. It’s as if I’m being held upright by this string of light as opposed to having to keep myself upright on my own.
So how does this connect to Higher Consciousness? Do you really need to ask?
Our daily lives are a constant bombardment of externalities, striking our senses without mercy, attacking us from all sides. The economy is in the toilet, terrorists are everywhere, swine flu is spreading, we’re still at war, crime is up, the stock market’s down, I could lose my job, I could lose my house, I could lose my mind. Some do, and take out a half dozen innocents before turning the gun on themselves. Great! There’s something else to be concerned about.
It’s hard to stand firm when the room is shifting beneath you. What can you do to keep from losing your sense of stability when there’s nothing to focus on out there that seems worthy of grabbing hold of? How do you keep steady on a ship that’s tossing from wave to wave and there’s no solid horizon to aim for?
Try a tiny dot of light high above your head, inside your head. Visualize it pulling you upward, straightening you, stabilizing you, providing a “best way” path through the daily maze. When you have a decision to make, don’t think about what to do as much as visualizing the connection and feeling what to do. The decision will seem to come from your gut, not your head. I know, this sounds like preaching, and for that, I’m sorry. But it doesn’t have to be religious if you don’t want it to be. Although it can be if you want.
Reread the quote by Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri on the home page of this blog. Try doing that in the morning and see if you can’t make it through the day more relaxed and stable, even with your eyes closed.
peace……………….ag
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