Sometimes the most surreal events, like breaking one’s toe on a rolled yoga mat, are also the hardest to dismiss as purely coincidental. As in art, so in life surrealism cracks open the shell of reality to reveal a world beyond reason, the Grace behind adversity.
Laying on my bed with one leg propped up, I could feel the old patterns, the “why me?” “why now?”, rise ever so lightly before sinking right back, below the surface of sanity. Despite this being a considerable inconvenience, I wasn’t upset. I sat gobsmacked, marvelling at the soundless quality of my quantum leap – the smooth transition that melted away resistance, turned resentment into ashes. I was finally stable, flowing like a river, like a mountain holding my ground for the very first time. I was finally Here, at peace.
So, instead of lunging into a damning tirade of complaints and grief, as I have so many times before, I closed my eyes to try and open my self. And I remembered this story I read in “Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery”. It mentioned a case of mending a broken bone in 3 weeks, instead of the expected 3 months. I picked up the book I had merely glanced through last year, and dived eagerly into the technicalities of body mind rapport.
“The brain uses virtually the same pathways for seeing objects and imagining them – only it uses the pathways in reverse.” *
“There is mounting evidence that the mind’s influence can be found outside the body. If you divide a colony of worms with identical genetic material into two groups and give them two separate groups of experiments the following occurs: If the experimenters are told that the worms are especially intelligent, they will do better than the other group, whose ‘trainers’ are told that their worms are especially stupid” *
Inspired by Eric Franklin’s experience, I decided I would not only incorporate more imagery work in my classes, but also test the concept, and my own willpower on that broken toe of mine. I am taking these next couple of weeks to visualize the healing process – 3 times a day – for 5-15min…
I will document the experiment, finally get myself together and start writing. I’ve been putting it off for a while now, and this opportunity to slow down and refocus, is truly a blessing. I get to a point sometimes where, for no particular reason, my mind is racing with the maelstrom of the city, spinning in vicious circles of thought. And it’s really hard to pause. Hard to BE. Meditation helps of course, but at this point it’s a struggle. So, having an objective to focus on, is exactly the motivation I need.
Sitting down to write is a challenge when you’re not used to doing it daily. Gathering words and thoughts is like learning to speak anew. It took me a good few days of thumbing through the blank pages of my brain before I could syllogise my subconscious into a quasi coherent paragraph. But once again, slowly, quietly the turbid winds inside my head began to make sense… The roaring chaos is music. The storm is wise. My fingers trust in motion. And I sink slowly in the cooling waters of semantics.
* “Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery” Eric Franklin
Continue reading… part II … part III
