The Stillness of Flow

The Stillness of Flow

Do you ever ask yourself, “Why does she go on and on about being present and aware”? Do you ever wonder what the heck I’m talking about when I talk about stillness? Or feeling peaceful?

It’s all about the insides, baby!

My overarching goal is to be present, aware, and basically living my natural life most of the time. Simple. Why am I peaceful? Why do I flow with life? What makes it all so easy?

When I am feeling sad, or scared, or pissed off, I am not present; I am saying “no” to my life. These emotions are all about resisting what is. I am  sad that I lost something I wanted to keep, or gained something I didn’t, fear and anger are also about that; the world not being the way I think it should be. If this is where I am coming from, it will be an endless, unhappy battle I will lose over and over.

When I choose to be present in my life, to allow the flow, I can let things be as they are. I stop fighting what is.

Now, I have some energy. Now, I have some clarity. Now, I am choosing my natural life.

Why am I peaceful? Why am I relaxed? Why am I in harmony with my life?

In this moment, my life is perfect. In this moment, I am perfect. In this moment, I can relax.

There is a huge difference between living in the moment, and for the moment. For the moment tends to be the result of not-so-good choices that can often leave us feeling sick, or heartsick, angry, uncomfortable, apologetic, well, I know you never do this stuff, but, sadly, I still do.

And then I remember that peaceful is always a few thoughts away. Isn’t that amazing? I can be in such a funk, remember to choose peaceful, and often minutes later, I can be back to feeling like my own sweet self.

And I have reconnected with the stillness at my core. And here’s what that does, that connection. It makes me notice that at any given moment, I am doing one thing. I may have ten windows open on my computer, all wanting some kind of attention, but in this moment, all I can do is one thing. Given how much I get done in a day, that is a very nice, comforting thought, one that can send me right to peaceful, still.

When I think of the word stillness, I tend to think of a forest for some reason. Now a forest is a hugely active place. Trees may look like they are just hanging out, but there is a lot happening like making oxygen and circulating sap. There is rotten vegetation full of happy microbes chomping away at stuff, and then the larger life forms all busy doing what they do. Being present in all that, being present in our lives, experiencing the stillness, isn’t about shutting ourselves away in a sensory deprivation tank, but rather about choosing to be present in the middle of our cuckoo lives, flowing with what is, unchoosing our resistance, recognizing that we do one thing at a moment, and so we can do that one thing as best we can, we choose excellence, we choose harmony, we choose accord.

How have I changed from fighting it all to relaxing into the stillness of flow?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2014 all rights reserved 04302014

Why am I relaxed? How do I choose to be present? What makes me feel harmonious?

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Singin' the Emo Blues

Singin’ the Emo Blues

I’d feel fine if I didn’t feel so bad.

Sounds like the chorus of an old blues song, doesn’t it. Oh, the blues. Oh, dark nights, lonesome days, feeling bleak or doomed or useless or invisible.

How can I accept my experiences? How do my emotions support me? Why would I enjoy and respect my emotions?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we have emotions?

Mine were so painful in the olden days that I figured they were just to torture me. A romantic notion, lots of drama, but so not accurate.

We think a thought in that meat-machine of a brain. That thought causes a lot of things to happen; synapses fire, releasing particular neuro-chemicals, which in turn cause certain hormones to flow. Every thought does that. This is the fundamental meaning of thoughts become things.

Now, have you ever had the experience of an adrenalin rush? Maybe you got startled, or missed a stair. You get a sudden flush of heat, your heart pounds, maybe your hands shake a bit. That’s one kind of hormonal flow. We have lots of different hormones and they have different impacts on how we feel; stressed, pain, appetite; the list goes on.

As we accrue habitual thoughts, we get into the habit of habitual feelings. We often don’t even recognize our emotions because they are so familiar. And when they are uncomfortable, it may seem easier to shove them under a rug.

How can I trust my emotions? What makes me accept my experiences?

When I have stuff happen that I don’t like, that I ignore or fight, I am effectively saying “no” to my life, I’m pushing away the very occurrences that could change everything. When I accept my experiences as mine, I stay soft, I stay relaxed. Saying no to life is a clench, and clenching hurts.

Accepting my experience isn’t the same thing as giving up. Surrender, letting go, is, in part, trusting that what is happening is exactly what I need to become my best me. One of my big lessons, one that shows up over and over for me, is owning my power. Why am I strong, capable, and competent? For you, it may be feeling lovable, or worthwhile, or right, or helpful.

Our biggest lesson, the fundamental one, will return again and again, as we learn our smaller lessons. I have emotions to let me know where I am. Am I on my right path? How do I feel? I will feel good on my right path, even if nasty crap is happening. I will feel bad on my dark path, even if lots of nice stuff is going on. Point of view, attitude, negative moral judgments, will all color my experience of the world. As I find ways to accept my experiences, to stop fighting, to stop complaining, to stop refusing, things will lighted and loosen, and I will be freer.

How have I changed from fighting my life to living it all the way?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2014 all rights reserved 03242017

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