A few years ago, I started a sharing a series of stories in my newsletter. Now, I am making those stories and the practices for better living available here. I call this series Lessons for Living.
. . .
I’m flying!
I’m gliding through the air.
The smile on my face is as wide and alive as I can remember it being… and no it was not a dream.
So, the missing detail is that I am harnessed and safely held on a wire. This is adrenaline, joy, excitement, a mixture of fear and awe coursing through my veins.
Everyday we have these neurotransmitters in our veins. Our body literally “runs” on these neurotransmitters: Adrenaline and Cortisol keep us alert and tonic. Cortisol is literally part of what helps us wake up in the morning. And, we can have too much of a good thing, even in situations far less appealing than me zipping through the air.
And yet, in this particular leg of my travel it was not the excitement of flying through the air that took my breath away.
What blew me away, what blew my mind and still does, was the opposite of that sense of electricity. it was the spellbinding stillness: Sitting in a treetop tree house watching the mist roll into the jungle valley. The colors of the forest changed before my eyes, the many hews of green slowly turning to blue and black. The hills of the valley initially picting up tones of red and orange before appearing purple in the horizon. I was completely wrapped in the dance of colors and shapes. I was enraptured by the organic silence and stillness.
I know the picture at the top of this story does not do it justice.
Our daily lives bombard us with stimulation, notifications, bombastic news, alerts and the pressure of always needing to perform the same regardless of the time of day, year or season. We are so constantly pressed that we forget… No wait, we don’t forget, I am not sure we have ever had anyone tell us of how important it is to take time to just be, to be still. But somewhere deep inside we know how healing sleep is. In our bones we know, much as we resist what is best for us, how powerful it is to step back, to get out of treadmill of life and just be still and take it all in.
Spending time in nature is a great way to tap into that stillness… when nature is not on your door step below is a practice for you
The Practice
Unwinding before bed
For those times when nature is not on your door step here is one of my favourite stillness practices: a hot bath!
Yes, it is that simple. Draw yourself a nice hot bath, you can put in your favourite bath salts and get in. As you let yourself adjust:
- first cross one ankle over the other,
- then cross one wrist over the other and interlace your fingers, and
- finally bend your elbows to bring your hands (fingers still interlaced) to rest on your chest. and interlace your.
Be still and breath.
You can change the cross of your ankles and wrists. Stay for as long as you want just don’t allow yourself to get cold.
