Calming Connectivity, for the Chaos.

By Olga Tutunaru via Unsplash

One Page of Rest, for Busy Days.

I’ve been dipping back into a beautiful book recently called The Radiance Sutras, 112 Gateways to the yoga of wonder and delight, by Lorin Roche Phd. A translation of an ancient yoga text ‘Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, with reflections and meditations on the energies of life, and the divinity of the body.

I love how immersing myself in just one page of this book—sometimes revisiting it several times—can create a deep feeling of rest. It can feel like a pocket of calm, within a day (or world) that might otherwise feel like chaos. It can remind me to reconnect with people, or nature, when I have spent too long ruminating in my mind. And so I wanted to share one page with you:

The Radiance Sutras: Verse 25.

Attend to the skin

As a subtle boundary

Containing Vastness. 

Enter that pulsing immensity.

Discover that you are not separate

From anything there. 

There is no inside, 

There is no outside,

There is no other -

No object to meditate upon that is not you. 

PAUSE.

Give the words space to land in your being.

Notice your feet on the ground, or on any surface you're supported by right now. Wiggle toes a bit, if this is useful to feel more aware of them.

You might yawn or sound a sigh. Sway, move or be still.

You might feel a sense of slowing down perhaps, maybe not. There isn't a goal tbh. Just noticing your felt experience, without judgement, is useful.

Now gift yourself the time to read this prose above again - allow yourself the moment within the moment (and come back here when ready)

How do these words feel?

What might they suggest, to you? (If anything - no expectations).

For me, these words offer a gentle reminder of our interconnectedness. A reminder that our skin can feel like a 'container' of our experience, a boundary of dis-connection, and unique identity - BUT ALSO our incredible skin offers connection.

When we notice our experience of skin with subtlety, and feel into this, we can sense there is also a vastness to our connection. Not that the skin is vast, but that it’s just a perception of a boundary, and we can notice a more subtle feeling of 'vastness', like the vastness of the universe, energy, awareness. Perhaps? ( I am no Sanskrit scholar. Or English expert for that matter. I scraped a C at GCSE English. This is simply a personal reflection).

It made me think of the way we might feel in Yoga Nidra, or meditation. Or when we experience a sunset - like time is standing still. As if there's no separation between us and the space around. There’s a deeper stillness, or quiet.

Or perhaps you read this and your experience is wildly different. Of course, that’s ok too. In fact that’s useful to notice, because in this learning to pause, observe and notice our experience, without judgement, we are strengthening our self compassion and mindfulness muscle (its not an actual muscle, to be clear, but I like alliteration).

And what a gift it is to our our wellbeing, and everyone we come into contact with, to pay attention to a moment, softly, in this easily distractable and opinionated world.

WE CAN REST.

Perhaps the more we practice the art of slowing down - whether in Restorative Yoga, valuing Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith's 7 Types of Rest, or practicing Mindfulness, all in a way that feels right for us - the more we might remind our nervous system energy, and whole body-being, that we are safe enough to just 'be'. 

With practice, and with a trusted teacher (or therapist), we can rest, we can soften and unclench from the pressured expectations that society often dictates, and learn to live more aligned with our own natural rhythms.

Want to honour your shifting energy needs, feel nourished and more present to your loved ones, or to ride your seasonal transitions through life? Perhaps a little more intentional rest or restorative yoga is the key.