I’ve wanted to write about this idea for a while, but never had a good title or way to describe it. I want to thank Kirsten Warner for another wonderful yoga class this evening and for the final bit of inspiration to write this, and for the title.
Kirsten began the class talking about a recent retreat she was one where for most of the retreat she felt completely inspired and in one peak experience or another for most of the retreat. She was curious about how to hold that peak experience once she returned home. The teacher spoke of staying open and being present as keys to remaining in and experiencing each moment as a peak experience.
At the end of class, Kirsten offered a blessing – may we all have an unshakeable peace to live from. I don’t know if I have the blessing in full, but the words an unshakeable peace struck a chord with me. That is what I feel and what I’ve wanted to write about. I also just love the way it sounds as I say it and what goes through my body as I let it resonate.
An unshakeable peace is a knowing, in a bodily sense, of a deeper stillness or peace or resonance that is undisturbed by life, by emotions, or anything that happens during the day. There may be other words as well – silence, harmony, awareness, grace, beingness, vastness, aliveness, serenity. Some might call it God, or Source, or our Buddha nature. It doesn’t really matter what you call it, it is always there.
The first step is to start to be able to feel that peace. Yoga is one of that perfect opportunities to begin to experience this if we can stay present in the asanas (poses) or prana (breath) or any of the eight limbs of yoga. Meditation is another frequent means of discovering that deeper stillness. There are many other ways as well – sports is one, perhaps it’s cooking and preparing a meal, or doing pottery.
Once you’ve started to notice and experience that peace, then it’s a continued practice to stay with it for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then an entire yoga class. Then it’s time to take it everywhere – when you’re grocery shopping, or driving, or eating. Even more challenging it to feel it when you’re angry or upset or feeling grief. In real, practical terms this actually means a multi-attention – paying attention to the stillness while you do a yoga pose or feeling the ground of stillness while you have an argument with a loved one.
I don’t know when I first started to actually feel that deeper peace – it’s been several years at least, but I had no words or concepts to put with it. Just something I felt. As I read more and listened to more people I came to understand exactly what Kirsten was talking about. There’s a saying – the mind, or at least the left-brain/logical brain, is always the last to know. My body knew way before my mind understood anything. Now for me it’s fairly constant. Sometime it’s stronger than others, I’ve had goosebumps for days on end from feeling this unshakeable peace and other times it’s only a few moments. I don’t always have the awareness of staying with it, but I know it’s there and I know how to feel it at any time.
The truth is that peace is always unshakeable, it’s always there. The practice is truly how to feel that unshakeable peace while living a human life.
May you all find and know your unshakeable peace.
Beautiful
ReplyDelete