“The answer is never the answer. What’s really interesting is the mystery.
If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you’ll always be seeking. I’ve never seen anybody really find the answer. They think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom.
The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.”
― Ken Kesey
As we are getting closer to the Winter Solstice and the transition to 2019, you might be thinking of what you want to transform in the New Year. Maybe you want to transform yourself, maybe you want smaller adjustments, maybe you feel happy with where/who you are but wondering where things are going around you or in the world at large.
No matter how you feel now, I am inviting you today to a wider exploration of The Mystery of what the Universe is calling out to you now. I started this exploration in my last post with some guidance as to how to work with your dreams. Today, I invite you to expand further your awareness, not at the center but at the periphery, for a change.
Follow me in exploring the edges of your consciousness, looking for your own thread in The Mystery, maybe finding your own future calling to you, and bringing it back into your own body. I hope that you will have as much fun and receive as many insights as I had preparing this for you.
1. Slow down and watch every single one of your daily experiences as a doorway to The Mystery
I am sure that you won’t be surprised by my recommendation to start by slowing down and turning off your auto-pilot mode. Stop doing what you’ve always done without thinking about it and start observing your life intently.
Decide that everything that comes to your life is a message to be interpreted by you.
Start with 5 minutes at a time. Just 5 minutes of pause and observation, focusing on things that you would not usually pay attention to.
2. Move to the edge of your consciousness
This specific exploration is a bit different than usual, so let me explain it further:
- Leave alone the main thoughts that keep your mind busy and be aware of your thoughts at the edge;
- Watch the emotions that are not necessarily central but rather at the edge of your awareness;
- Look for the images and objects outside of your usual field of view, things that your eyes are usually not directly tracking or even seeing; in other words, expand your actual vision;
- Feel at the edges of your senses, and maybe practice with the senses that you might be less familiar with.
Because it is unfamiliar, this might require a little bit of practice. And it might even feel uncomfortable – or at least unsettling – at first. Don’t try to make sense of what happens or doesn’t happen. You are just creating more space for The Mystery to bring back the impossible into your lives. Let the unknown and the new inform you, maybe even surprise you. Think of it as a different way to expand your awareness.
3. Embody it
A client recently asked me what I meant by “embodying the work;” the truth is that no word can fully explain it until you really feel it. Rumi is among those who have the most eloquently spoken of that “voice that does not use words,” the Universe whispering to your soul things the mind does not understand or cannot even imagine. Don’t try to immediately put words on your experience. Drop deep into your bones instead. And maybe start by going to the extremities of your body – hands and feet. Yes to your extremities first, not your heart or even sacrum, you can always move there afterwards. (I told you that this was a different kind of exploration!).
Just try it, as an experiment. Just let the mystery find its place in your body. You can find other suggestions of ways to allow that embodiment here, including through arts, movements, etc.
4. Repeat and make it a daily practice
Allow yourself to be surprised by what you did not know exist, by new details in your life and the world around you. Expand the space in which your life enfolds and progressively develop the capacity for a vision that might be bigger – or not – but more importantly, that will be more whole. And remember: feel it through your body, at least one part of it (in particular if you are in physical pain: choose the easiest part, even if it is only a hand or even one finger). And, let your own body hold The Mystery for you.
Enjoy and, please, let me know how it is going for you!
Béatrice Pouligny | Shamanic Healer and Spiritual Mentor
beatrice.pouligny@shamanicspiritualhealing.com
Sometimes, I guess to write a book about it 🙂 Thank you for sharing some ideas.
You are very welcome!