Petals From Practice…
A sparkling horizon - ready for my one-way ticket, jumping into the ocean of the unknown, 2023 Bondi.
“ We establish a calm abiding center, not to fortify ourselves against the chaos of life, but to help us become resilient, tolerant, and accepting of the inevitable, perplexing, and often agonizing losses we all go through. A calm abiding center and a fully engaged life, therefore, go hand in hand. This inner tempering through the fire of practice allows us to live at higher and higher levels of charge: to feel intensely, love intensely, and work intensely without fracturing in the process. We make firm this abiding center of equanimity, but not to sequester ourselves from life or to make life less “lively.” Rather, as the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson once said about capturing life through the lens of his camera, we “discipline reality.” Cartier-Bresson did not lessen the poignancy of his subject matter through being attentive to it. In the same way, when we practice Yoga we do not dampen the fiery nature of life: if anything, we place ourselves right in the fierce heat of the center. ”
| Donna Farhi, Bringing Yoga to Life.
I recently shared the March edition of KiMaya Journals Newsletter , bringing to focus the gravity of cultivating a state of centredness in oneself amidst the turbulent nature of life. Acknowledging the reality that as a human living in a world of polarities, can we allocate time and space for us to consider the oceanic depths of nuanced layers contained within both internal and external states of conflicts that may be occurring simultaneously inside the borders of our environment and beyond ? I invite the question of what does ‘staying centered’ mean to you.
Just as there are millions if not billions of methods that give structure to the practice of ‘awakening’ consciousness, so to are there many angles of relating to the universal sentiment of what a place of inner calm means and importantly FEELS and expresses through each of us. Some concepts that come to mind as I notice the diverse language range among differing philosophies and principles of practice include words such as ; balance, present, in harmony, awareness, Love, living with beauty, coherence, feeling congruent, regulated, coming back to ones zero point, union, alignment, totality, grounded, embodied, grounded, equanimous, peace, calm, non-attached etc…
Considering the notion that - in order to to shape, grow and evolve a raw material we must first take time to investigate its unique natural base qualities and potential, then so to must we identify the controllable and uncontrollable factors influencing (both as a service and disservice) our ability to cultivate and connect to the place of inner calm available to us all.
I’m grateful to have come across the wise words of consideration written by a master Yoga Teacher Donna Farhi as they help weave my experience and the living inquiry that encompasses the essence of practice invoked via - '… A calm abiding center and a fully engaged life, therefore, go hand in hand…
I believe each of us has the capacity to hold the meeting point of what connects seemingly opposing energies/forces - just as the mid point of our bodies ‘core’ houses the vital organs at our own centre point located between the limbs of both upper and lower parts. No matter how the place of inner calm and centeredness feels for each of us, it is through our loving commitment to ‘temper’ the inner fire of discipline and dedication towards what fulfills each of us that maintains and feeds this connection. Through radiating movement from our ‘core’ (on and off the yoga mat), a sense of clarity has the potential to flow through to our extremeties to therefore pour outward into the reality of whatever ‘turbulence’ we may find ourselves presented with. Engaging the core of our very being through practice can strengthen the access point of innate power. A power that expresses our aliveness, that when harnessed with integrity grows into a sense of boldness and courage to fully engage with our inner world and the world of relating with others and environment around us. May this intention of valuing this connection to our centre(peace) generate resources that support ourselves and others who may also benefit.
~
* Join me in practice, a 40-minute class‘Travel Yoga’ here.
* At the beginning of each month I share themes upon which to approach practice - a true joy for me as I stay connected throughout my travels. Seeing it as a fresh lens to look through, or as an invitation to reposition into a different angle upon which to tend your garden of practice - explore this journey here.
If you are curious to learn what moving from a place of calm within a moment that is naturally chaos inducing can look like (!), this TedxTalk video presented by Maui born and raised champion spearfisher and freediver, artist and chef-hunter -Kimmy Werner can be found here .
