Letting My Summer Soul Dangle
The Art of Doing Nothing – Meditation, that lives in every summer moment
Blue sky, sunshine,
be content with God and yourself,
Happiness flows through the mind,
a breath of air called silence,
Heart and senses rest relaxed,
a light wind sweeps across the land,
capturing the splendor with eyes and ears,
and so letting your soul dangle.
Oskar Stock
This month is the Story of Being Not Doing. Quite in contrast to our June topics “Yoga & Politics” and “Yoga Warriors – Moving into Action”, this month we focus on “doing nothing”. Does that even make sense? To live out opposites this way?. One straight after the other? The answer for me is not only “yes”, but that it is necessary. It is like a magnet. The power and energy arises between the opposite poles.
This month theme sounds funny in English: letting the summer soul dangle! Die Seele baumeln lassen, we say in Austria. Letting the heat inspire us to move slower, to take breaks, to exhale longer and to dive deeper into water. Letting summer inspire us to take time out for things, people and places that we love. Sometimes that means to turn off that handy and read a book in the grass, walk through forest or glide down the stream in a boat. And at other times – doing nothing, absolutely nothing. Joe Dispenza wrote that to find everything we need to come into nothing and instead of starting the journey as somebody better. We need to leave it all behind as a somebody and begin as a nobody because unlimited possibilities await ONLY in the unknown!
I follow the path of letting the soul tangle venturing into lightness, play and joy this summer so my writing is less this time and I let you come up with a life to float; however I have collected a few tips to let that soul tangle:
- Stoping over and over again and focussing on breathing: breathe slower, calmer, gentler, longer with an emphasis on the exhalation (Pranayama).
- Sitting in the sun: warmth and light let you relax
- Meditating: Close your eyes and listen to your breath
- Taking time for your yoga asanas (physical postures)
- Chanting , playing an instrument or listening to the birds/relaxing music
- Writing off your soul – diary, journal
- Walking barefoot: through the grass, moss, water or sand, feeling the earth
- Walking through nature: the mountains, gardens, beaches
- Enjoying nature: watching the trees and sunsets, looking at the stars
- Diving into water – sea, lake, river, waterfall
- Spending time with animals
- Planning timeout for mobile phone, TV and computer
- Visualizing what you love, what you want, choosing the good thoughts, creating your reality
- Doing what you like to do, what makes you happy
- Traveling to a place you’ve always wanted to go
- Spending time alone
- Surrounding yourself with uplifting smells, Aromatherapy
- Plan a healing therapy: Massage, Shiatsu, Cranio Sacral, Nuad Flow, Reiki
- Relaxing into creative flow without effort: pottery, painting, sewing ..
- Being playful – playing games, sitting on a swing, fooling around on monkey bars, bringing out the child again
- Spending time with people you feel comfortable and happy with
- Get lost reading a book
- do you have any more ideas? Please write to me how to let your soul dangle at beate@baliyoga.wien
Getting lost in relaxing, playing, enjoying, resting, floating, just being …
by Beate McLatchie