“The urge for experience is the importance of being alive.”
E. Smith
As mentioned in last weeks post, I will be exploring the scales of balance for the month of October; providing insight and reflection to aspects of our living beyond the yoga mat that tend to leave us feeling disoriented, unsettled, over-worked, under nourished and in disharmony with Self.
This week I am excited to incorporate content from my current studies of Somatic Psychology, coupled with my life experience, yoga, and my intuitive and curious approach to the laws of nature.Together these elements will bring greater awareness to the ways we create a life of balance or imbalance. And most importantly we will use these concepts to help determined our ALIVENESS.
The fundamental nature of all living things operates in a cycle alternating between expansion and contraction.Big Bang Theorists determined that the very existence of the universe was created under the premises that the universe, in its origins, was a dense, hot fireball that, for unknown (many speculations) reasons, essentially exploded and is still, to this day, in a state of expansion.A flower starts out in a tiny, contracted seed and then, through the incredible intelligence of nature, grows to the light and expands. Human nature is no different. We begin our journey of embodiment in the delicate womb of mother; in time we slowly grow, transform and expand.
As a person who is an introvert, I have come to accept that though contraction and expansion are natural aspects of our being, they too can become imbalanced. I have spent many years of my life vacillating between the two, and now feel as if I am just stepping into the power of my true balance.There were times that I held everything ‘in’ and denied myself the experiences of the world around me due to fear, pain and insecurity. In this constant stage of contraction, I realized that my personal potential and growth became contained, limited, and with-held. As I begin my process of uncovering Self, a dedicated attempt to come out of my shell, I approached the world from an overly eager, out-of-control, excessive explosion. At one point I had mitigated my existence, at another I lived in extreme opposition giving all of my self to the world, to the unhealthy experiences that somehow sparked liberation, and eventually recognition of imbalance. Through mindfulness and much, much practice I learned to see these extreme reactions relate to my quality of living.
Do you feel that you tend to give yourself to the world around you (overly-expansive) too much, or do you feel that you hold in too many (contract) aspects of yourself? I invite you to explore these questions and look for what the underlying reason may be. Do you contract from the world when you feel fear or insecurity? Do you avoid looking ‘in’ and facing your ‘personal work’ and find distraction by being overly social or a workaholic? NO self judgment, NO shame; just explore.
In healthy measure, contraction/expansion are a necessary part of the growth process. Contraction is an opportunity to internally reflect on the experiences we have. Similarly, expansion has its important role in our personal evolution because it allows us to reach out into the world and have the experience to bring back within and contemplate.When we allow ourselves to reach the edge of comfort, with respect, we can slowly nudge into the space beyond and extend our selves a little deeper. We explore this in our yoga practice; hugging energy in, only to draw it back out; stretching the muscles without coercion to invite more length; and of course the breath, the very essence of life, expanding and contracting within us. To understand our unique processing of contraction and expansion we will bring a quality of balance to our life that aligns with the rhythms of nature.
A concept I am exploring with, Personal Energy Dynamics, can be summed up into a principle, or quality of life that expresses full aliveness. Aliveness is characterized by the expansion into the ‘world’ and relaxed contraction into the self. Aliveness is the ability to live, move and express freely through emotions and body; and by doing so one encourages personal evolution and growth. In contrast, to express without aliveness constricts our ability to expand, and thus prevents expansion and potential for wholesome contact with the world around, and within. This principle also concentrates on the importance of a ‘lived body’, experiencing the Self holistically rather than the self as a mental entity which ‘has’ a body”. The lived body is the alive body; a body that is respected, taken care of and embraced through healthy expression and contact.
I encourage you to practice a physical activity; it can be anything, yoga, dance, biking, hiking; use it as an opportunity to honor your aliveness, to bring your WHOLE self to a deeper experience of living. If you’ve never tried yoga, come try, it will take you out of contraction, and I promise we will have fun implementing these concepts to form and movement. I also encourage you to look within, find meditation, or at least a few minutes of stillness to quietly observe sensation, emotion and experience.
I have been playing with a fantastic mindful practice I learned from one of my teachers (thank you Ryan Kennedy) called, “Eye in, Eye Out.” This is a simple Self monitoring technique that has helped me find a steady balance and rhythm between my vacillating tendencies. I have one ‘eye’ that is regularly scanning my internal state of being, checking to make sure I am not contracting or reacting to a degree of imbalance and another ‘eye’ that is scanning my external environment tracking for imbalance or excessive expansion, as well as what information I allow myself to bring back within. This is an incredibly potent method for remaining present, non reactionary, and highly I recommend it.
Enjoy this weeks balance contemplations and techniques. And don’t expect perfection, remember they are practices; the only way to truly know balance is to be willing to deeply explore our imbalances! The more we integrate harmony, the more life we will feel.
Much gratitude,
Robin Afinowich
