The World Is Speaking

My favorite at-home retreat is a 45/15 schedule45 minutes of activity followed by 15 minutes of active rest, all. day. long.It’s beautiful.The first time I did it, I set myself up with timers.Activity. Alarm. Laying. Alarm. Activity. Alarm. Laying. AlarmIt took about 5 hours to sync up with the rhythmAnd then I didn’t need the timers - the pace became naturalTidying and laundry, and then laying down.Then I’d get hungry and get up to make a snack, at which point the laundry was doneAfter which I laid down again, paying attention to my sensations, maybe writing, maybe reading, but mostly laying and breathing and noticing my bodyAt which point, the doorbell would ring…What I’m trying to say is that after just a few hours, my day would reveal itself to me in that rhythm, where I would actually get quite a lot done, but I would also be very rested and grounded.I’ve used it in preparation for holidays which is amazing, because I think I have too much to do to have time for restBut getting the rest actually gets the stuff done, tooAnd I feel goodToday, I noticed that same invitation - my day offering itself in a pattern of activity and restAnd I’m so gratefulOne thing leads to another and to another, and then to the couchThen an activity arises, and another and another, and then out to the bench in the sunThe sun becomes too much, and the cycle starts again, and I think ‘I want to do this every day’Because I stop directing my day and let it reveal itself to meMy typical overlay of my perspective and opinions and ideas about what I must doMakes way to listen and move from that listeningQuite an upgrade to my experienceMy thinking mind says I’m being irresponsibleMy lived experience watches things get done between rest periodsAnd acquiescesMy cognitive mind doesn’t quite receive messages from staring at a bush for 10 minutes (I believe some people do)But my body is getting more messages than I know how to translateMy nervous system is having a very different time than it does when i’m plotting my next action or evaluating my progressNature is speaking, alwaysListening isn’t only cognitiveListening does not need to translate what it hearsTo shape my energy fieldThere’s a quote attributed to Alan Alda that says “true listening is letting yourself be changed by the other person”I want to be changed by nature, tooThat my wordless receptivity to wordless expressions of life living dynamically in the present momentAlign me with the heartbeat of nature and all of her beingsLord knows listening in this day and age must be curatedThe noise is loud. Everyone’s sharing their point of view. We all have visions of the worldBut the world itself, that’s what I want to pay attention toNot assessments or predictionsAnd when I listen to the voices in our culture inviting us into deeper relationship with the pulse of nature in all of her expressionsThe ‘horizontal download’ of light from these sources shapes meListening is a privilege and a pleasureWhich is a welcome counterbalanceTo the equally true atrocities also happening everywhereI like to listen to Philip Shepherd and Tara Brach and Thomas HublAnd let that listening shape me - and shape me it doesYet it’s my own body and my own back yard where the shaping is most preciseListeningActing from that listeningRestingIt’s a beautiful pacingAnd time for me to go lay down… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fallingtenderly.substack.com