This is the third of my talks on mindful flow.
Probably better if you listen to them in order,
But it's not vital.
If you have heard the preceding two,
Though,
You will know that I am very keen that we shed the static feel that tends to go with mindfulness when we approach it as a thing in its own right.
Because we don't live in a world of snapshots and time slices.
Our world is analogue and continuous.
The opposite of digital,
Even though so much of our life is digitally organised these days.
So,
This talk is quite practical and mainly gives you ways to experience yourself in the flow.
In my music-ing way of looking at mindfulness,
There are two ways in which flow manifests.
One is rhythm,
The other is melody.
We'll start with rhythm,
The fundamental ways our bodies feel rhythm.
One is beating of our heart,
The other is the in and out of our body.
And we tend to ignore both of them.
They're just something that happens,
That goes on all the time.
Hopefully they do go on all the time and they'll keep on doing that or we'll be dead.
But they don't stay constant.
Our heart rate adjusts with the effort our muscles are making by pumping more blood and our breathing becomes deeper,
Speeds up,
Slows down to maintain the oxygen,
Carbon dioxide balance for our muscles and our brain.
Our breathing speeds up when we have to deal with stuff,
Whether that's running to catch the bus or holding our own in a discussion which is becoming more and more animated.
Better and faster beat,
The flow becomes a torrent.
Sooner or later you need to slow down.
Okay,
Three steps.
First,
Listen to your breathing.
Notice its rhythm and speed.
Second,
Think,
Just think.
Three S's,
Slow,
Smooth,
Steady.
Third,
Listen again.
Keep going round the listening and thinking,
The three S's and notice your breathing slowing down.
You could also be checking your pulse as you do this and you will notice that your heart rate slows down as well.
Flow is always there and we can always be aware of it,
If we know to do that and we can adjust it when we need to.
But if it gets interrupted,
That's when we get into trouble.
Think of seeing something that scares you.
What happens?
You freeze,
You stop breathing.
After a few moments the body,
Deprived of oxygen,
Will start to tremble then shake.
But we can correct it by restoring the flow.
Listen,
Think,
Three S's,
Slow,
Smooth,
Steady.
Our breathing has a rhythm marked by the turning points of in and out.
And this rhythm can help us in many ways.
If you notice that your mind has strayed from what you were working with,
Or you have some discomfort because of the situation you were in,
Or you're giving yourself a hard time because of something you've done,
Listen to your breathing.
And as you do that,
Take two slightly longer,
Slower breaths.
Longer means into your diaphragm,
Not your chest.
Continuous breaths,
Turning smoothly at the end of each in and out.
And then go back to where you left off and you will find that you will be able to start afresh,
Calmly.
You may need to do it a couple of times and it could be good to practice it.
But be patient and it will come.
Now for something a bit different.
I use this word musicking pretty widely.
And I spell it in a funny way with CK because that's like the medieval way of spelling it.
And in those times,
People had a very broad idea of what could be called music.
So the equivalent today,
We might include poetry and dancing and making faces and swirling your arms about and standing on one leg,
Or waving wistfully as your friend's train pulls away.
There are many more.
All of these are expressing how we are,
How we feel,
Us,
If you like,
Right now in the moment.
And they all have a form,
A shape in their different ways.
And we could call these shapes,
The melody.
Underlying the melody,
There is always a rhythm.
That's us as well,
From our breathing and our beating heart.
Here's another way to get this idea of melody.
Take a large sheet of plain paper and choose a pencil or a crayon or something that can draw.
Play your favorite song or piece of music.
Don't listen to the words or the tune specifically,
But let your mind loose to drift with the music.
Now take your pencil or crayon and draw your music in lines and swirls and dots and anything that comes.
Try it a few times as the music keeps playing.
Use colors perhaps,
Then change the music and try another picture.
What's happening?
Well,
You are making a direct connection between what you're receiving from the outside,
The music playing and what you're experiencing inside that you're representing on the paper.
And you're not just the subject doing it,
You're also an observer because you can see what is coming up on the page.
Now the next part,
If you're up for it.
Take your picture,
Set it up somewhere a little away from you,
Not just on your lap.
Sit still and relaxed and watch it.
Be aware of your breathing in the background and try to keep that as smooth and steady as possible,
Sensing its gentle rhythm.
Now start to play the music in your head and follow the music in your picture,
Not tracing each line but being aware of the sense and feeling of it.
And then let your breathing loose to respond empathically too.
It might seem to swell up as the sound builds,
It might walk purposefully alongside a regular beat,
It might quiver in a soft and thoughtful passage.
Now all of you is engaged and connected in this unique flow of being.
Of course,
It's not that we can go around in our everyday lives playing a tune in our head and seeing pretty shapes in the sky and waving our arms.
No,
This is a way of learning what it feels like to be immediate and responsive in such a way that continuity and the flow are as important as the contact and the sensitivity.
Learning what this feels like so that it can become our way of being.
You might discover fun ways in which you can express yourself too.
If you like the idea,
Look out for my book Just Be Here.
Thanks for listening.
