Riding the Waves

I did a sound medi at the beach this morning with these beautiful mini waves.

I looked out at the ocean before I started and noticed how calm it was today - there were barely any ripples and their sound was super subtle, the cars whizzing by on the road behind me seemed much louder, and sounded hurried and hectic in contrast to the water.

I closed my eyes and kept my focus on the ocean and quickly it sounded louder and bigger and more all-encompassing to me, I began to wonder if a storm suddenly started coming in and the waves were growing larger. Instead of opening my eyes to see, I just relaxed into the sound until my time was up - it wouldn't change anything if I opened my eyes anyway - I was safe sitting up on a rock wall.

My medi timer dinged and I opened my eyes expecting to see some big change in the water, but it was exactly the same and suddenly sounded much quieter - I noticed I could hear the sounds of the road again.

Dropping my focus and having the larger picture of the world around me amplified the busy sounds and muffled the peaceful sounds. I let all of my senses slowly pull me in different directions as they took in my surroundings again, which typically gravitate towards things that disturb our peace (it's a survival instinct), but I felt calm amidst it all.

This feeling of all-encompassing peace and absorption in something is available to us at any second - even when we're not sitting in front of a calm ocean - in the form of our breath.

Even though we might not always be able to hear it, we can feel the full experience of breath in our body - the coolness in our nose, the swirling at the back of our throat, the rhythmic rise and fall of our belly.It's about making the choice to get still and take your seat in the center of life's craziness, and surrendering to the ebb and flow of your breath (your own mini ocean waves) that you're experiencing moment to moment.

Things will likely be the same when you open your eyes again, but you'll be able to experience them from a healthy distance, and a with fresh perspective.