Greetings Sunny Buddies,
How are you today? I hope the weather is being kind to you where you are.
Today’s weather report is that we have clear skies, a warm light breeze, and oodles of sunshine. It is a perfect June day here in Scotland. I feel settled into the summertime now, and I am looking forward to celebrating the Summer Solstice this weekend. I love the light in the evening at this time of year; it has a beautiful luminal quality. There have been some amazing sunsets here, dusky pinks, warm greys, and hues of blue woven into a gossamer blanket of beauty.
My! I am waxing lyrical this morning:)
Not Doing as a Threshold to Right Action
As part of my PhD, I have been introduced to Biotransenergetics. It is an approach centred on a deep connection with the wisdom of the natural world and resonates well with my love of Earth Wisdom. One of its meditative practices is called 'Not Doing.' The suggestion is that by 'not doing' everything flows and happens in the right way. It feels somewhat counter-intuitive to me in that I am a natural doer. However, I am enjoying the practice, which contributes in a nice way to my daily well-being and optimism.
Each morning I have a 'not doing' time where I follow the rhythm of my breath and just pay attention to sensations in my body. After some time, I then move to a Thomas Heubl practice using my inner eye to scan my body. I visit with my bones, my muscles, my organs, my skin..... I feel myself relaxing into a deeper connection with my body. And then there comes a time when I fully settle within. I sense myself rising up as I move into a lovely calm space.
I have also been using this practice when I feel my achiever drive is starting to rise. I am a typical Enneagram Type 3, and I know the PhD is touching into this. My achiever has served me well over the years, but it can also be unsettling if I allow it to be more present than is needed. So when I feel the action-orientated drive starts to unsettle me, I just stop. I then move into a not doing breathing session. I remind myself that I just need to be with my life and not push beyond what gives me joy. I am a bit of a work in progress with this. However, I know this ‘not doing to take right action from a more relaxed place’ is working for me.
In this moment, a prayer from my teacher WindEagle comes to me. I share it with you with love and appreciation for the time we spent here together.
'Peace, Be Still, All is Well'
So these are my musings for you this week. I thank you for being here with me, and I send you Summer Solstice blessings for the weekend.
Questions for this Week
I wonder:
What is your sense of the concept of 'not doing' in your life ?
Do you have a 'not doing' practice you would share with us?
How does 'not doing’ lead to right action for you?
As always, dear Sunnies, I so love hearing from you.
Ann
Sending kindest thoughts to you Ann. I am going through a difficult time but I listen to the “ not doing “ philosophy and know that despite being frankly tearful not everything has to be solved all at once. Wishing you all the warmth directly from the sunlight of the day. Every day really is beautiful please keep well. Richard xx
Ann, thank you—your description of “not doing” reminds me so much of neuropsychologist Rick Hanson’s way of teaching us to shift from the heightened sympathetic (“fight or flight”) side of our nervous system to the parasympathetic (“relaxing”) side. What a wonderful practice to consciously choose to notice when we are “revving up” and getting so “into our heads”, and purposefully ground ourselves back into our bodies and out of the self-made climate of stressful thoughts. Very powerful. Thank you for sharing🙏🏼♥️