Sitting here enjoying the warm spring air and pastel coloured skies, I contemplate whether one has the true ability to surrender to life. Or maybe it’s just whether I have the ability. I’ve come to a point where I know should put more energy into myself, however this seems to be a confusing way of thinking. What I need is to simply find some space. And not the kind of space away from anyone or anything in particular. But the space in between the chaos, the drama, and the intensity of life at times. Allowing myself to enjoy the space between each inhale, and each exhale.
Over the past couple of days I was fortunate enough to soak into the beauty of the Radiance Sutras (विज्ञान भैरव तन्त्र, Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra) at a workshop in Sydney. It was my first real extended exposure to an aspect of the Tantric teachings. Transcribed by Lorin Roche, the Radiance Sutras present 112 methods of meditation. Their teachings remind us that we are educated from within our own hearts in the spirit of love. Engaging in the techniques of these sutras, one can activate the senses, savouring the incredible intensity underlying the most common day-to-day experiences. The text describes ways of savoring breath, sound, and internal luminosity, enabling us to be at home in the universe and accept every intense experience, sensual delight, and every ordinary moment in life.
“Meditation is diving into your entire sensorium so fearlessly that you go beyond it into the core of your being and rest there. This is a yoga of delight, awe, and wonder.”
“Ask your body to teach you and lead you into the realm of these experiences.”
“Sanskrit is a song of the union of opposites.”
“Tantric meditation is an integration of the opposites, not obliteration or mere transcendence of them.”
As I sit here now, sipping my Damiana tea, I reflect on my day, today, which began by teaching my energising 6:15am Power Yoga flow class, followed by breakfast at my favourite cafe Talulah with a fellow Yogini, some Christmas shopping, and a well needed visit to the beach to sit in some quiet, enjoying a little bit of spaciousness.
At the beach I was astonished to stumble upon an area which was covered in beautiful complete shells that had been delicately washed ashore. For some unknown reason I slipped into the mind of a child, my inner child, and placed each shell I’d scooped up to my ear, listening to the sounds of the ocean, feeling the vibrations – just as I’d done when I was growing up. It is amazing the simple joys we feel when we allow ourselves a little time to enjoy spaciousness. I left my iPhone in the car, enjoying the stroll along the shoreline, letting the waves crash gently into my ankles…
…Breathing in modest mouthfuls of negative ion charged air, I bathed in sunshine, rejuvenating and rebalancing my Vata qualities…
