Silence

If you can, take a few moments to sit silently in peace. Simply sit in a chair and breathe in... then breathe out. Feel each breath and how the air moves through your body. Do this several times, solely focusing only on your breath. When you feel more grounded to your being, start to listen to all the noises in the environment. All the beautiful birds and their distinguished callings for one another, the squirrels squawking at each other or a big truck hauling down the road. Tuning into the sense of hearing helps ground you even more. Just sit and observe your body and the sounds for 5, 10, or 30 minutes, however long our body desires that attention. When you are ready open your eyes slowly. Not only will your body feel lighter, less pressure, and constraint, but your eyes will appreciate something simple as a little bird that is before you.

The past two days I have had the privilege of watching these two little guys (see picture below) learn who they are. They fell out of their nest one at a time. For several hours they just sat in one spot observing what was around them. Slowly they grew in size and I figured out they were puffing out their wings, getting ready for flight. After sitting there for three hours, they took their first giant hop. They bounced around several times then then all of a sudden took a long pause, just sitting there. They looked worn out, but suddenly their wings slowly expanded and were shaking. Then came a hop followed by a wing expansion. You couldn't help but smile. Watching them trying to put each piece together was so amazing.  Their determination was inspiring. These little guys were trying so hard to conquer the world and not let IT swallow them whole. Every species has their own struggles, but with some determination and patience we will all CONQUER.

With an illness we become self absorbed in our pain and symptoms. We are solely living each day only seeing and feeling our own body, that we miss out on so many small beautiful things that are around us. By taking a few moments out of each day to do the meditation above, it will help open your eyes to this world we live in. It is silly that there are so many beautiful things around us and we pass by them all the time.

This exercise will only help you become more at peace in your own body which will eventually reduce some of the pain.

 

Quote of the Day: Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.- Buddha