The other day, my beautiful friend, Alayne, was sharing her strategy for dealing with the topsy turvy time she is moving through in her life. She shared that in order to stay connected to herself, she finds herself either going deeper or rising above the situation. When I heard her say this, I caught an image in my mind of being in the ocean playing in the waves, jumping over the wave or diving underneath before it crashes. In the energetic cresting and crashing waves of my life, I recognize this as times when I either ground more deeply (dive in, feel into what is happening) or surrender to the will of spirit (jump up and get above it). In either case, I am letting go of the grip of the mind and coming into the moment which makes either option a good one. And you know, the waves just keep coming. And sometimes I do crash to shore.
The image of riding waves evokes the emotional realm. The way feelings move through us has this quality of ebbing and flowing. As a student of nature, I watch and feel this ebb and flow within my breath as well my emotional body and look for ways to connect physically. Connecting to my breath is a great way to ground and be rooted into this moment, as well as to gain perspective. The first chakra, the rooting chakra the chakra that says "I belong here" can be accessed through sensing the soles of our feet. The 7th chakra, the chakra that says "We are ONE and we apre part of something big" can be accessed through sensing the top of the head. Both are sensed in the body. Sensing the connection between the feet and the top of the head ignites the whole of us. Regardless of which access point I choose, the potential for my whole being to come to life exists. Dive in or rise above.
Another access pointfor the ebb and flow is the heart. The breath and the heart have an intimate dance that they share. Every time I take a breath, my heart gets a delicious massage. The upper chakras and the lower chakras meet at the heart center. Energy is exchanged here between above and below and between inside and outside. The vertical meets the horizontal; this is the sacred cross of life, the symbol living through our heart chakra that says "We are connected." I can experience this inner movement in still and silent meditation and also as I dance.
All you need to do to feel any of this is to tune into the cross that is always here. My feet, my breath, the top of my head, the subtle movement of my spine and ribcage as I move with the waves. I can sometimes feel these waves of energy move up and down or in and out, meeting and transforming in my heart center. This feels like a dance sometimes and like an ordeal at others but always, when I am in touch with it, life feels like a great adventure.
Come dance and ride the waves with me in Concord, MA! www.yogaandniaforlife.com