See & Be

I am happy to say I made it through my first week as an empty nester. My meditation practice is helping me to see the emotions and allow them to move through using a very simple mantra; Inhale for SEE and exhale for BE.

This mantra meditation is how all of my classes began and ended this past week as we “rode the waves” together. Seeing and Beeing is quite a bit like surfing. The softer we can be on top of the water, the more the wave can carry us through to shore. How we balance is how we stay grounded even as the waves push through us. On the mat we  explored “ride the wave” pose which is a flow version of Skandasana (pictured above). Off the mat our mantra is one way to practice “riding the waves”

As a young man, my dad spent several years running a camp waterfront in the summer. As a result he was very strict about water safety. He taught me a healthy respect for both the pool and the ocean and would often remind me not to turn my back to the ocean because you never know when a wave could come and knock you off your feet. That is true both with the ocean waves and the waves that come through the mind; especially in times of transition.

This past week waves would come up often and seemingly out of nowhere. When I felt them rise I would use SEE and BE to “Surf”. I did not stifle them, I did not avoid them, I let them roll through as I tried to hold the emotions as lightly as I could to not get swept under.  This is a difficult practice but it is also very freeing. The power to surf the waves is within each of us as long as we don’t turn our backs to them or push against the resistance of their power. Instead we can use our own mental surf board, our SEE & BE to bring us towards the shore.