I’ve been reflecting on the cyclical pattern of constriction and expansion in nature. Especially how they are inextricably linked; both are required for all life transformations or births. Mind you, it is not just for humans, but for animals and plants too. During COVID, I watched the Monarch pupas slowly push against their cocoon, pressing over and over against their silken encasement. Suddenly, the surface would break, and each would softly and languidly emerge into the bright sunlight. Plants do it, too. If your window ever had a toothpick-pierced avocado above the kitchen sink, you watched the soft sprout tissue break through the hard pit. When you think about it, it’s incredible. 

 

 

    Musing Centered Expansion

    “This Too Shall Pass”

    Most people are raised to resist periods of constriction, especially those in Western-minded cultures where expansion seems to be the only goal. Constriction could mean fear, resentment, loss, heaviness, heartache, etc.. When practicing Inner Mastery, one learns to wait when life feels challenging. Because if deep in your body’s cells, you KNOW what is moving through you is ultimately temporary, the entire experience becomes lighter. Even with chronic conditions, there are easy and hard days—moments of delight or joy interspersing the dark and heavy times. And with this lens of “it shall pass,” sweet moments become more beautiful.

    “Live Life on Life’s Terms”

    Taking the practice one step further, you realize there is no mastery of any condition unless you live it consciously. That means you face and feel times of constriction full-on, drawing on a depth of surrender and trust both inwardly and outwardly. It doesn’t mean there isn’t some personal “noise” about it, but on the whole, one gets to the point where you realize only patterns you’ve met unflinchingly can be risen above or mastered. Doing this as a way of life eventually creates an unassuming, yet steel-like, inner core.

    “Be Here Now”

    Taking it one layer deeper, if the above are practiced and internalized (this doesn’t mean perfected), a core experience develops that is hard to formulate with words that don’t sound ¨new agey.¨ The best way I can put it is, somehow EVERYTHING that occurs is seen as meant to be, simply because it already exists in your life right now. Or, as Mickey Singer says, “You should be experiencing the life that’s happening to you, not the one you wish was happening.” And sure, it’s easy to say, but if you surrender to the fact that billions of events on every level of creation helped to bring about your experience, then fighting it is like punching the wind. So, if you can find this place within yourself, even intermittently, lightness of being and joy, also known as happiness, permeate your daily life more and more.

     

    Centered Expansion