Imagine life presented as a menu… what food would you choose?
Throughout the smorgasbord of life we encounter a variety of cuisine from feast to famine; some morsels are delicate, sweet and appetising while others challenge our taste buds and leave a sour taste in our mouth.
When presented with early childhood experiences that result in shock and trauma, we are ill equipped to manage the enormity of these situations that are beyond our comprehension. We are also incredibly resilient and in the midst of overwhelm have automatic mechanisms of survival that kick in and disconnect us from present time, which serves to protect us from that moment and enable life to continue.
Once the trauma is over, we are designed to revisit, resolve and reclaim the shelved aspects of our selves to restore balance. Left unattended, the trauma lives on in our cells as a protective device to keep us alert to impending danger, taxing our nervous system, adrenals and the balance of essential hormones including noradrenalin, dopamine and serotonin.
The fast paced demands of our society accompanied by an impulse toward external gratification, overlooks the importance of downtime required to reconnect and re-establish equilibrium. This philosophy deems it indulgent to attend to matters of the heart where resolution and restoration lie.
Meditation takes us to a place deep within, beyond the noise and chatter of the mind to a place of peace and stillness, where truth resides. Surrendering control of the mind in meditation can be challenging at first as we chip away at our conditioning that believes the mind is where we will find our answers. The mind works in equations to fix and heal things, while in a meditative state we expand beyond the impulse to fix (masculine) and heal (feminine) to an all-encompassing place of unity where there is no right and wrong or good and bad, there just ‘is’. In this place of no separation we are able to view life and its circumstances from a higher perspective, above the pain and suffering, beyond the shame and judgment, devoid of blame and guilt, to a place of infinite understanding, compassion and forgiveness.
Go within or go without
Changing the vantage point restores perspective and provides a license to break free from the beliefs and behaviours that keep us isolated and fearful. Fear of the past is experienced as worry and fear projected into the future is experienced as anxiety. As long as we feel driven, obligated and responsible for the survival patterns of the past, we put our dreams on hold and wait for the day when we are free to live the life we were born to live.Meditation is soul food that caters for the most discerning palate, offering alternatives from genetically modified, processed and pre-packaged to fresh, alive and organic.
So, what’s on your menu?
