Poised Between Stillness and Action

This morning I was walking in my backyard enjoying the stillness as the world was only just beginning to wake.  The crisp air chilling my bones while last night’s snow crunched under my feet.  And as I walked, I thought about the recent events, the drama that unfolded in DC.  How tumultuous our collective life has been and yet how still it remains here in my own backyard.

Looking back over my shoulder, I see my footprints in the snow trailing out behind me and up the icy hill to the house. Reflecting on how easy it was, in the morning stillness, to be present with each step and consciously move through the treacherous terrain.  How each purposeful step was planted with conscious thought, avoiding any real danger of slipping and falling.  

As I look back at the clean trail thru the snow, I can’t help but think how wonderful it would be if every step I took, every action in life, held the same amount of conscious choice.  If I could move with the stillness and connect to every moment so that each step would be as perfect as the ones that lead me here.

That Stillness, nature’s seductive siren that draws me inward to a place where all the trials and tribulations of life slip away.  Where the illusive boundaries between me and everything that is, disappear.  And I open to the incredible perfection of the precious moment.  In this stillness, I am intimately connected to the limitless potentials, infinite possibilities and deep knowing of my own soul.

So, those perfect steps are the ones that flow from the creative stillness of my soul to become the conscious action that shapes my reality.  Each step a creative response to life, unfettered by reactive demands of the unconscious mind.   

They say our choices in any moment are based on a perpetual ‘program’ that runs in this unconscious part of our mind.  A program that runs like a loop between action, memories and desires.  When we are in a reactive, habitual state, the program runs as if it is stuck between action and memory.  So, to create real change in our life, to be responsive rather than reactive, we merely need to pause before the action to allow space for the transformative desires of our soul to immerge. 

Unfortunately, that effortless pause found in a pristine, morning with the deep pleasure and freedoms of spacious moments, inevitably succumbs to the practical needs, routines, and demands of the time-bound day.  And in these days, especially now, it appears to be very easy to get caught up into the reactive mind.  On strategy I find to break these patterns is to remember S.O.D.A.  Stop, Observe, Detach and then Act.

Of course, I like the effortless approach to grow my awareness and connection to the stillness of my essential nature.  Simply enjoying the routine of a nourishing meditation practice, whether it is immersing in the stillness of my own backyard or sitting in daily meditation, I am continue to deepen into that connection.  And thus infused with the stillness, I enjoy the halo effect as I move thru my day. 

I would like to share with you now, a short playful meditation that takes you through an experience of releasing layers of the mind and ego bringing you to rest in the nourishing space of “I Am”. I invite you to join me to “Step out of your mind and into your power”.

Con te (with you),

Jennifer