Originally posted on
In my last post, I wrote about simplifying life by becoming aware of our Being, and living from there with Non-Doing.
We can remind ourselves to come back to Being – centering ourselves again and again and again – in so many ways. Here’s my latest simple key. I’m calling it my “spatial litany”. It goes like this:
Neck free.
Feet to the ground.
Sky above.
Everything wide.
Again….even simpler:
Neck.
Feet.
Sky.
Wide.*
When you’re thinking these words, don’t think “about” them so much, but let your awareness float gently and with meaning to the spatial areas denoted by the words. Simply “touch” your neck, feet, and sky with the feather-touch of your awareness. When you get to the word “wide”, let your whole body expand-dissolve-evaporate-melt subtly into the space on all sides around you. Don’t try hard – just imagine and wonder for a moment, then move onto the next idea. Don’t stay with any idea for too long – keep it SIMPLE!
One day Mind and Body were having a chat about the challenges of their relationship. Body was annoyed that Mind had wandered while they were walking down the street, causing Body to hit a lamp post.
I used to believe that intense focus and concentration were the best way of being. I would spend hours practicing music, hours focusing on just one little thing. The more the world disappeared around me, the better I was supposed to be. In undergrad music school, I would walk up and down the hallways and see people in their practice spaces, for hours upon hours, directing all of their energy and attention onto one single thing. I learned that individual mastery of one instrument was the way to be. I practiced all of the time.