A theme that is integral to Living In The Gift, for myself, is emptiness: the void, the tabula rasa, the blank canvas, the darkest hour before dawn...
We have to be empty in order to appreciate a good meal, true wealth, a meaningful touch. Our mind has to have a question, a state of not-knowing, before we can accept a new thought or wisdom.
The practise of emptiness is fundamental in many spiritual disciplines, and it can be a hugely valuable shift in our consciousness, if we bring it into our busy contemporary lives. Rather than accumulating, taking, forcing, pushing-pulling... letting go and occupying fully the quiet in-between... This space opened - contrary to our conditioning around life being effortful - allows what we really need to come in.
The most significant moments of growth and expansion in my Life have come from what would conventionally be perceived as 'lack': no income, being alone abroad, no friends nearby, no fluency of language in the country I'm in, no prospective opportunities visible or imaginable, homelessness...
Through these states of 'less' have opened riches that were literally unimaginable beforehand. The void was necessary to their coming into being.
When we see emptiness as sacred, necessary, an integral part of the mystical co-creative process, it becomes a container for blessings.
Please share and vote! Join our community too, if you're interested in these kinds of ideas... How to truly Live in these times of increasing, manufactured 'scarsity'.
Much love, @clareartista
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Living in the Gift community,Dear @clareartista and
Beautifully put. Creating and cherishing moments of nothingness in our days.
How can we give our mind and body a break, clean them up to get them ready for what we really need?
I have quite organically fallen into the habit of fasting intermittently. It was through a change of location and food availability (highlands of Guatemala, quite a drive to the nearest town) and I noticed an increase in my level of energy, focus, enjoyment throughout the day. And maybe the nicest feeling - a more joyful eating of a warm and nourishing dinner. I then happened across information on this capacity of our bodies to survive on nothing and thrive. I quite enjoy Zach Bush MD's explanations around these topics. Again, what was important here was that I first experienced it myself and then started reading about it. Fasting has allowed me to really connect to what by body needs as nourishment - the quiet space allows me to ask my body what it wants and then give that consciously.
I felt like this topic is related to what you write about Clare - the blessings of an empty stomach - and I enjoy sharing personal practices that have created space in my life for gift to be noticed.
Oooh, it's a treat to read your beautiful thoughts dear Corina! Yes!! It made me think also about breathing, and how occasionally, I stop breathing and listen to WHEN my body needs a new breath... Not holding my breath, simply settling into myself and becoming more attuned to what is needed: I often find that taking this moment, allows an effortlessness to enter me, where before there was a tension or a straining.... :-D
I noticed recently also, that seeing stressed people walking about with big masks covering most of their faces, and an evident moving in and out of the mask as they try to breathe or talk - this makes me tense in my breathing - I have a sense of restriction, threat, control-against-nature-and-freedom, and I have to remind myself to breathe again.
Our sovereignty comes through our senses being awake and fully used/ fully potentialised... :-)