Saturday, February 23, 2008

February 2008

I would love to live like a river flows...

carried by the surprise of its own unfolding

I am learning about going with the flow and being in the moment and the surprise flavor of mango applesauce... from an 8 month old.

When I let him, baby Kai is my biggest teacher. To Kai, every experience is new and it seems egg yolk mixed with breast milk is yet another surprising flavor (who knew!). Today, as I strapped on snowshoes, with him strapped to my back in one of those baby backpack contraptions, he was hanging nearly upside down, struggling to keep his head erect. And then, release: he relaxed into the moment and lay his head on my back... going with the flow.

Last week, as I sat in stillness waiting for the inspiration for a class focus, I heard the river below me, moving, constantly moving. I thought of the quote above, "I would love to live like a river flows..." and I said to myself, "Let go... let go of the bank and let it be easy. There is nothing you have to do but let go..."

Later that same day, inspiration came from another source, Abraham, who speaks of upstream thoughts and downstream thoughts. Upstream thoughts keep us stuck and unmoving, trying hard to swim against the current. Downstream thoughts (even if we judge them to be negative thoughts) are taking us in the right direction in our life, as we move through what we need to move through.

In Nia, we have a principle called "Dancing through Life," and it is about being mindful of sensation in the body as we seek pleasure with every movement we make throughout the day. Today, I danced through life with Kai on my back in National Forest land, making Abominable Snowman footprints in the fresh snow. As I headed down the hill, I felt in my body just how easy and Joy-Full it is to head downstream, to live to walk to dance to love to play... like a river flows...