“The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain.” Lord Byron
“At night, when the sky is full of stars and the sea is still, you get the wonderful sensation that you are floating in space.” Natalie Wood
I’ve been sitting on the idea of beginning each day with a series of sensational experiences for about a year, struggling with how to turn the idea into a post. Each time I tried to describe the practices I have incorporated over several decades of research and application, however, the experiential benefits kept getting lost in the didactic words. Attempting to explain the disciplined practices required to fully experience these sensations kept leaving me more empty than full. Trying to share the lessons I learned from Yoga, QiGong, Energy’s Way, Aikido, Kundalini, and multiple stress management/meditation methods, I found it impossible to find words that gave any justice to the ideas – or any meaningful sense of the experience. Finally, I decided a poem was the best way to express the notion. Here it is.
Oh, if only each day could just start with enough sensational experiences
To fill us with enough gratitude and grace to face whatever comes.
What a joyful blessing to experience:
A feeling of energy rising up from the earth
Radiating out to all who can sense it
Rocketing to the heavens to who knows where
Finding its way back into the top of our head
Entering in, down and through to the tips of our toes
Ah, complete relaxation – tension and stress drained to the earth
Maybe there is a way:
Deep breaths beginning in our abdomen
Expanding through our chest
Holding in our throat
Being allowed to release gently—once, twice, three times
Welcoming the calm stillness of the moment
Not doing anything but being breathed
Ah, the experience of feeling cleansed and balanced
What might happen if we:
Tuned toward our purpose and sense of calling
Tuned into the context of our current lives
Read with discernment life’s possibilities
Cared for the ones we love and who love us
Opened to transcendence and transformation
Blossomed as the day begins to unfold before us
Imagine:
Reaching out to others and inviting them in
Being greeted with acceptance and forgiveness
Being embraced by a community of belonging
Freeing your energy fly to the moon, the stars, the galaxies
Experiencing the boundlessness and timelessness of space
Harmonizing all of you with ALL out there
Ah, energy and harmony return to our bodies
Oh, the sensation of being grounded
All is well in THIS moment
Visualize:
Snorkeling in the warm Hawaii water
Being held buoyantly by the soft sea
Swimming with the fish
Reveling in the bountiful beauty of the choral
Feeling completely weightless
Experience the sensation of:
Being at one, at peace –
Calm . . . . .still . . . .here . . . .now
Feeling a lightness of being –
Loving kindness filling our heart
Rejoicing in the day we have been given
And now give thanks for:
The earth, water, sun, and air
Time, space and knowledge
Light, thought, and sound
Love, hope, sex and senses
The impossible improbability of our unique life
Ah, what joy to:
Awaken to all senses, all thoughts, all feelings
Experience the sensation of unity and harmony
Feel solid, strong and stable like a mountain
Feel supported and supportive like the sea
Feel free and flowing like a wild flower blowing in the wind
Oh, if only each day could just start with those sensational experiences –
Enough to fill us with the gratitude and grace to face whatever comes.
Enough to welcome our return to that peaceful place
Enough . . . . . Enough . . . . . Enough
Also published on Medium.
Love it Ricky! Thank you!