I recently sat in on a webinar featuring Australian athlete Cathy Freeman talking about meditation and mindfulness.
Particularly around when she runs, when she was competing and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She said before racing she would need to relax her toes.
Do some deep breathing to release tension and tightness and find a quietness within herself.
I can’t imagine how hard that would be in a huge stadium with so much expectation on your shoulders.
That self-pressure to succeed.
To win for your country.
Let alone the pressure and weight of expectation coming from the media and everyone watching.
(Including me, in Sydney for the Olympics and watching THAT race in a cafe in Newtown.)
She acknowledged it was a kind of grounding she needed to do.
Feeling her feet on the ground.
Breathing oxygen into each of her toes.
But when she was running she described the feeling as though she was flying like an eagle, barely touching the ground.
It was quite beautiful.
There was also discussion about something I had never heard of before.
I’m very aware of the Indigneous people’s connection with nature.
Their unique and sacred connection to the land.
But this was something new…
A word, concept and spiritual practice (pronounced da-did-ee).
It’s described as inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness.
It’s probably known by other names in different Aboriginal languages, but this word comes from the people of the Daly River region of the Northern Territory.
A big part of dadirri is listening.
This is how they learn their stories and songs.
By watching and listening.
The other part of dadirri is the quiet stillness and the waiting.
“We don’t like to hurry. There is nothing more important than what we are attending to. There is nothing more urgent that we must hurry away for.” – Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann
We’ve experienced this personally.
Many years ago in the Northern Territory.
We were part of a cultural tour, when a young girl was given a traditional bowl to hold.
She accidentally dropped it and part of it broke.
Immediately an Indigenous man went to work to fix it.
First making the glue from spinifex resin.
Then meticulously repairing the bowl.
The skill and dedication he displayed.
It was fascinating to witness.
But talk about different cultures.
We were on a tour – that had a timetable – and the guide was clearly concerned about this.
But nothing was going to happen until this man had fixed the bowl.
The most important thing in that moment was the bowl.
“Our culture is different. We are asking our fellow Australians to take time to know us; to be still and to listen to us…” – Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann
It was fascinating listening to Cathy Freeman.
How she had to find that quiet stillness inside her.
To shut out all the noise and potentially any negative thoughts.
To find the joy in running.
What an inspiration.
May we all find that quiet stillness inside… and the ability to listen.
Ann 🙏