Transition
In the event of child birth transition comes as a double edged sword. When a woman hears the news that she has begun dilating into the 7 cm zone there is a myriad of emotions that flood her. It’s a time of great pain and swift movement. It’s the body’s signal that birth is eminent. Breathing becomes more labored and difficult, contractions come harder and faster, and pain climaxes into peaks that feel like a tidal wave. Breathing and focus are crucial during transition.
I have found that same truth in other areas of my life where transition appears. It’s always the turning point of a thing. The time when something is getting ready to happen is often where I am met with pain or resistance. There is an energetic sensation of being hard pressed or hemmed in where the only way out is up. There is no getting around, under, or over the matter it simply must be gone through. Maintaining a supportive posture is helpful, but without the breath nearly impossible to maintain for any duration. “Bracing Oneself” is carnal and quite knee jerk when facing transition. We hold everything tightly as if our mere strength will catapult us beyond the place of pain to release.
Surrendering to what is, becoming present in the moment with the body, and breathing life into the constricted places helps to naturally work with the power of transition. Transition is a messenger. When one receives the message an invitation is extended to co-partner with transition to bring about a certain kind of birth. Working against transition will bring pain and suffering in the midst of its assigned purpose. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. We either die from it or we die for it. The choice is ours to make.
Finding Stability Within
What goes in must come out. One way or another thoughts, experiences, beliefs, ideals, feelings, food, all must go through the filtering process. Not all filters are created alike. There are similarities for certain, but every individual has his own unique mark to make. Like fingerprints, shadows, and splashes for instance. I’ve resisted B-Logging. Recently, I have come to the conclusion that what we resist, persists and that in order to “Be” there is a great deal to “Log”. Doing this out loud and in the open adds an element of transparency and vulnerability. Especially when words of affirmation are your love language. There is something to be said also about , Matthew 7. My log must be removed before I can ever speak about or commence helping anyone with their speck. It’s so easy to jump on the “speck tackle” wagon. So, I’m logging.
I suppose I should mention the little fire starter under my logs. Someone struck a match. What do you get when you pair a fire with logs? Duraflame! ( aka all consuming fire) And a whole lot of heat. We all know what happened to the little pig that built his house of sticks. All that rubble made a pile of timber. Fuel for the fire. Huffing and puffing only makes it bigger. I concede. Let it burn.
Finding It
Recently, I’ve been practicing some balancing postures in yoga. At first glance none of them look particularly difficult. How parallel to life! How we chose to define balance is a fine and interesting science. Balance isn’t necessarily how much you can juggle, maintain, contribute to, store, or distribute. I remember when I was a young girl being drawn again and again to one of those posture positioning desk sculptures. I was always fascinated at the possibility of being able to get it to balance perfectly in an unseen line of power and grace. It took lots of concentration, a steady hand, a good eye, and patience to set it up again and again until it would at last effortlessly float in position. It never occurred to me that the same rules that governed over this puzzle also applied to me. After all, I’m not a delicately carved work of art suspended over a foundation or am I?
Unexpectedly, I caught a portion of the reality TV show, “Big Brother” this week. It was by no accident that I watched the 3 final contestants stand against a backboard that spun around and around in a make shift human beater that churned butter. Their job was simply to hang on. One position, one simple goal, be the last one standing! The time clock documented their efforts. This was an exercise in balance. Cramping legs and nausea took turns at these contestants. Single mindedness had to be strong. The resolve to maintain ones position was critical. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! Just when you have determined to maintain your balance, it’s not as easy as you thought it might be.
Another fond memory came to my mind, playing Liza Dolittle from, “My Fair Lady”. Because grace and posture are essential “lady like” qualities, learning to walk across the room with stacks of books upon ones head is crucial. Again, with focus and concentration like steel I would set my mind to this task. Mastery was always the goal. How short-sighted of me! The benefits of grace and poise didn’t come with the mastering, they came in the process of the movement. How could I have missed that? Side tracking is a real obstacle to balance. Our minds must be stilled and put to rest in order to find true balance. Finding the off switch is a process and ironically much the same as the balancing acts we practice externally. The quest is both a challenge and an adventure.
withinstability 