At one of my meditation sessions this week we used a mantra to bring a sense of calm into our body and mind.
It’s a fairly simple technique – repeating a word or phrase quietly to yourself.
“I am calm.”
But at the end of the session there was a lovely sense of calmness in the room.
No-one hurried to get up and leave.
The realisation that we’d allowed oursleves this time to sit and be still.
Allowed a sense of calmness into our body and mind.
Allowed.
It’s an interesting word isn’t it?
Why don’t we ‘allow’ ourselves to do this on a day to day basis?
Partly, it’s because of how we are conditioned into being ‘doing’ people.
If you’re not doing – then what are you doing? Nothing?
If we’re not busy – planning, thinking, preparing, reviewing, evaluating, reflecting – what are we actually doing?
Why do we feel it’s wrong to ‘allow’ ourselves this time to just be?
One lady hit the nail on the head when she said “you feel guilty”.
Guilty of doing something for ourselves.
Guilty of ‘allowing’ ourselves to do something to help bring a sense of calmness into our busy lives.
It’s crazy when you think about it.
We talked again about looking to nature for feelings of calm and balance.
Although at times nature can be turbulent and wild, it’s also full of beauty and grace.
There’s a lovely quote from the mysterious ancient philosopher Lao Tzu (or Laozi) that says:
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
Maybe we should all slow down and take some time for oursleves, without any sense of ‘allowing’ or feeling guilty.
We’d probably find we’d get far more accomplished too.
Ann 🙏