Survival tip for tough times: rhythm.
Rhythm absorbs attention. It’s an old trick – maybe the oldest. Rhythm of the drum, of moving bodies and moving breath. Of voices raised in unison.
I found my rhythm when I went for a run today. I have to plan these things, be deliberate, otherwise I end up just pumping my legs while ruminating on my problems. Plenty of time to ruminate on my problems the other twenty-three hours of my day. I said: ‘find your rhythm, buddy.’
First the feet: Swoosh, swoosh. Swoosh, swoosh.
Tailbone tucked back a bit, so my feet land below me. Maybe some bounce as I set the pace. Thoughts bounce too: some congratulatory – ‘thank you for not being on the computer’ – some less so – ‘I’m tired you bastard.’ It evens out.
After the feet, I find the breath. In and out. Inhale. Exhale.
Swoosh, swoosh. Swoosh, swoosh.
Inhale.
Swoosh, swoosh. Swoosh, swoosh.
Exhale.
Sometimes I count the seconds in, the seconds out. Sometimes the rhythm of my breath feels yoked to the movement of my legs. And sometimes, after concentrating on my breath for a while, my attention begins to flow out all on its own, into a larger feeling of energy and exertion in the body. A deeper rhythm. I try not to ruin it by thinking about it.
If I still have lots of rumination, I try a mantra. Suck up the last of that thinking bandwidth. The phrase I used this morning was: ‘If you build it, they will come.’ It popped into my head. Build what? Is that from that baseball movie with Kevin Costner? Who cares. Don’t try to understand it.
I sing it softly to myself, like one of those old spiritual hymns:
‘If you buuuuiiild it, the-eeeyyyyy willll come.’
Swoosh, swoosh. Swoosh, swoosh.
Inhale.
‘If you buuuuiiild it, the-eeeyyyyy willll come.’
Swoosh, swoosh. Swoosh, swoosh.
Exhale.
Scenery tracking by. Body moving. Breath moving. Swoosh, swoosh.
Very slowly, the self drains from the world. Thankyouthankyouthankyou’: my running practice, my moving meditation.
We can do it seated too. The body is never still, not really.
First the breath:
Inhale.
Exhale.
Then maybe a visual: wave rolling up the beach, wave rolling out.
Inhale.
(Wave in)
Exhale.
(Wave out)
Body rocking slightly, like you’re enjoying it. How into it can you get? Mantras allowed. Everything is allowed.
‘If you buuuuiiild it, the-eeeyyyyy willll come.’
Inhale.
(Wave in)
Exhale.
(Wave out)
‘If you buuuuiiild it, the-eeeyyyyy willll come.’
Find your rhythm. Build your practice.
Survival tip for tough times.
