A Beginner’s Guide to a Higher Space
Especially for those of us who are in our heads
At 6:03 AM in March, deep in a bush-walk, bordering the Indian Ocean at Augusta, the South-West tip of Australia, a mild breeze was blowing and the only human sound I could hear was of my own breathing.
I felt small and in a strange way — Connected. Connected to the grand scheme of things.
Since then, I have been struggling to find answers to two questions :
- What does it mean to be Connected (with a capital C)?
- How does one know? Is there a metric that I can use to measure it? (eyes-roll)
I think the short answer is — there is no metric (sorry, quant-focused beings). It is a feeling; rather it is a choice that breeds a feeling.
The questions then are, what does that choice look like? What does that feeling “feel” like?
The choice
The choice is not a mental switch that you turn on. I have felt that is hard to just make an instant change. My brain does not listen in when I say “Hey mate, time to get Connected”. That bulbous mass has enough things going up there to even listen to a suggestion.
So what is it then?
I am a person who is too much in my head. So intellectualising this further does not help a reset. I have figured over time that when I focus on my body or I give the mind a break, it just resets. And the reset to me, always, has been in positive directions.
So I do Yoga or I meditate or both (depending on days when I need to drop my girls at school).
Yoga grounds me, literally.
There is no way I am able to think of and get anxious about my 10 am meeting when I am on a twist, wherewith every inhale I am elongating my spine, and with every exhale I am twisting a bit deeper to the right.
Very simply put, Yoga injects the energy and potential of the present moment into my body.
That is a great place to be when I start my meditation.
So, what do I meditate on?
I meditate on being energy — beyond my body. I visualise on an outcome that I want to materialise, and am gratuitous about that outcome.
I am not so much a feeling person, but when I do get gratuitous about that outcome, my body generates the right feeling. (I told you am much in my head).
The feeling
To me, it feels like an altered state of mind. As I listen to my body as I write this, here is what it “feels” like:
- I am naturally prioritising actions that enable me towards that outcome
- My breath is relaxed, steady, and smooth
- The center of my forehead seems to have more space (as if my eyebrows have parted a bit towards either side)
- I am more focused (and am naturally leaning towards Pomodoros when there are no meetings)
- I am upbeat (Yesterday I was not) and future-oriented.
- I am hopeful and excited about the outcome that I have let loose into the ether while I meditated
- I have a sense of calm that the Grand Old Lady who looks after The Ether will look after everything
I do not claim for this to be a recipe of any kind. This is what works for me. I am keen to hear what this feels for you.
