Singapore can give me a squeezed feeling, as in having the life drained out of me. Not in a dramatic way, in the opposite actually, a heavy, humid, weighty feeling. This visit was no different, until the last morning.
It came to me in a sun salutation on the hotel rooftop. The view is stunning. You can see famous landmarks like Marina Bay Sands and the downtown skyline. I have run many successful, stressful events on that very rooftop and being there evoked feelings of pressure and tightness. As I sat for a mindfulness moment, I noted more than the landmarks of Singapore’s miracle development story. The bright moon not yet hiding from the sun, the swooping birds, and the thick tropical forest of Fort Canning Park across the street. The high sky and cool-ish air after the monsoon rains earlier lifted my thoughts in parallel with the barometer.
Let some air in.
That was the simple thought that unraveled me.
The tense unpleasant feelings were diffused by letting some air in, not into my lungs but in my thoughts. Like my favorite AudioDarma teacher says, breath in through your head and imagine it filtering, freshly through. With that thought, I loosened the hold on my Singapore sensations and allowed other energy in.
Now I could sense more than just me, my focus, my actions, my thoughts. When I loosened there was room for new, foreign, fresh winds to come in the gaps between. I could physically imagine the loosening of the molecules around and in me. It doesn’t mean my molecules changed, but with the new ones the chemistry of the moment was all new. It’s not just coming from me, it has outside energy and that is relaxing and intriguing again. It made me appreciative and curious of this space.
It reminds me of a recent Scientific American article on wetlands. How we can’t figure out how to totally reconstruct those that have been destroyed. New examples show that you don’t totally do it – you just set up the conditions and let the water flow in and go where it wants to go. Let nature do the work. Less human energy, more other natural energy = better results.
Is it the same for air and my mind? Can I set up the conditions, then let in the air and energy from outside and see what happens? Less of my mind working and more flowing in from the outside = better results (a.k.a. more happiness).
I am very excited to try this out in other realms where I feel a constricting in my mind or emotions. Could this improve my conversations with others if I let air in the spaces between the words and expression? Could it help me act as grateful observer of phenomena around me rather than as an uptight watershed engineer?
Seems the way to go – lift up the levee and let the water in. Open the window and let the outside air in.
It came to me in a sun salutation on the hotel rooftop. The view is stunning. You can see famous landmarks like Marina Bay Sands and the downtown skyline. I have run many successful, stressful events on that very rooftop and being there evoked feelings of pressure and tightness. As I sat for a mindfulness moment, I noted more than the landmarks of Singapore’s miracle development story. The bright moon not yet hiding from the sun, the swooping birds, and the thick tropical forest of Fort Canning Park across the street. The high sky and cool-ish air after the monsoon rains earlier lifted my thoughts in parallel with the barometer.
Let some air in.
That was the simple thought that unraveled me.
The tense unpleasant feelings were diffused by letting some air in, not into my lungs but in my thoughts. Like my favorite AudioDarma teacher says, breath in through your head and imagine it filtering, freshly through. With that thought, I loosened the hold on my Singapore sensations and allowed other energy in.
Now I could sense more than just me, my focus, my actions, my thoughts. When I loosened there was room for new, foreign, fresh winds to come in the gaps between. I could physically imagine the loosening of the molecules around and in me. It doesn’t mean my molecules changed, but with the new ones the chemistry of the moment was all new. It’s not just coming from me, it has outside energy and that is relaxing and intriguing again. It made me appreciative and curious of this space.
It reminds me of a recent Scientific American article on wetlands. How we can’t figure out how to totally reconstruct those that have been destroyed. New examples show that you don’t totally do it – you just set up the conditions and let the water flow in and go where it wants to go. Let nature do the work. Less human energy, more other natural energy = better results.
Is it the same for air and my mind? Can I set up the conditions, then let in the air and energy from outside and see what happens? Less of my mind working and more flowing in from the outside = better results (a.k.a. more happiness).
I am very excited to try this out in other realms where I feel a constricting in my mind or emotions. Could this improve my conversations with others if I let air in the spaces between the words and expression? Could it help me act as grateful observer of phenomena around me rather than as an uptight watershed engineer?
Seems the way to go – lift up the levee and let the water in. Open the window and let the outside air in.