There seems to be a current debate - a divisive stance - on telling others what should or shouldn’t be done during this time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. While this may have been present prior to this world event, it seems to me that it has brought it to the surface in new forms.
“There is a grand difference between putting our head in the sand and seeing the world through the eyes of love. ”
Throughout the passing months, I have noticed a global arising of ego and separation and ALSO a rising of heart centered being and seeing with the eyes of love. And also, some oscillation between the two states of being. For example, a current hot debate is wearing face masks. There seems to be a disparity of information provided. Some seem to see it as useless because it doesn’t protect the self - a more egoic form of existence. Others see it as a way to honor the other living beings around them and with love put on a mask to mitigate the spread of their own upper respiratory droplets in case it helps others in any way.
Do we have research to prove any of this for sure right now? No. So how you decide what is true and real? My suggestion is to FEEL through what is true and real for you. And I believe the most powerful way to get a clear answer on this is by asking within your heart. If you ask from a place fo fear or lack the answers change. In order to see with the eyes of the heart and the eyes of love we must be in a more open and expansive state.
There is gold within that. There is gold within noticing if you feel expansive or contracted. And I don’t mean tuning into the energy of how others are presenting information to you. I mean inside if you consider any thought or action or deed, how does your body respond? How does your heart respond? Does it bring with it a feeling of closing and contracting or a feeling of expanding and opening? And state of being do you want to chose? Is there a choice that brings you closer to how you want to feel?
If you are someone that feels constricted reading or watching the news, who is to tell you that you are wrong for instead doing practices that lead you to expansion? How can this be different than ignorance is bliss? I would say ignorance would be a lack of awareness. Is there a chance that you might be cultivating your own inner awareness by choosing to abstain from things that are contracting for you?
The ego often becomes activated and loud when shoulds and powers outside are telling us what to do. It doesn’t want to be told what to do and how to do it. It wants to feel free and like the power within. It was created to keep us safe in certain ways yet it can become rampant and disconnect us from our truest self which is inherently good and doens’t need to prove it.
I chose to see through the eyes of love. And when I stray from this, I promise to return - again, and again and again.
The ego is in a constant state of fear and through the mechanism of fight, flight, or freeze it tells us a story of separation - one that is filled with a “right” and a “wrong.” That stance clings to anything that can keep it safely resting within the ego mind. It is fed by judgement, criticism, shame, fear, separation, and lack. I have witnessed this within me and around me time and time again and seen how it can lead to disordered eating, excessive alcohol consumption, panic and anxiety, difficulties with sleep, depression, and the list goes on.
This can be a very difficult way to live. And, when we are living that way we can feel isolated, lost, afraid, alone. These feelings can activate more separation and greater ego activation and keep us stuck. Only through acceptance, compassion, and love can we experience transformation and release some of the patterns that bind us.
The eyes of love see wholeness, unity, health and goodness. They see all things through compassion and seek to unite and include. These eyes are warm and welcoming filled with acceptance and belonging. These eyes are within all of us - within this central place of our heart.
If we have been wounded (hello, we are human after all) a common response is to build a wall around the heart. This stops us from being able to fully give or receive love in an effort to protect what is most sacred and important to us: love aka, our heart. It can then be difficult to enter your heart or see through your heart. The news I find empowering is that we have the ability to shift and transmute these wounds, to deconstruct the walls and begin anew with love.
For me, spending more moments quiet and still within or as quiet and still within as possible, lends me towards moments of love and going within my heart. I have found that a profound way to do this is to first move my body. I need to shift my current physiological state - which is often tied to past traumas - in order to have my mind settle and have space to go within.
Time and time again I have come back to movement and embodiment practices as a way to connect to my wholeness or at least the amount of wholeness I have been able to connect with. If it’s helpful for you, you are welcome to join me in some of these practices. Starting the week of May 20th I will begin two different series that last six weeks and offer movement from a place of love.
To find out more, explore the Trauma Sensitive Yoga May/June 2020 Series and/or the Evening Movement & Mindfulness Series.
Sending love to you wherever you are on your path in the moment of reading this and all the moments that follow.
