4. Connection to the All: This blog has shared ways to connect to your body, mind and spirit during this challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a daily process that requires one to care for all parts of one’s body, mind and spirit in order to feel whole. What does it mean to feel whole? How do we know if we are whole? Perhaps this is the greatest question. Some would say the answer is in the meaning of life. But how does one discover the meaning?
For many, meaning can be found in connection to the part of our existence that is greater than ourselves. This can happen from the outside or from within. It can happen through a deeper connection with one’s body, with one’s mind or with the spiritual connection to ourselves, to others, to nature. We know that we have reached this part when we experience awe. Awe can be found both through the metaphors of darkness and light as one can not exist without being defined by the other. There is the potential for great energy when one reaches this place. Or great peace. It is the well that people tap into to share creative expression. It is the void that is unexplainable and untapped. People have tried to define this connection in many ways and through many traditions. What is important is to be curious and open to this connection, to look for the connection in many ways.
Here are some interesting connections while many in our world were focused on safety by sheltering in place or being an essential worker caring for others. During forty days of sheltering we had the opportunity to experience one of the largest red moons, celebrate the 50th Earth Day, remember the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust, witness Easter, Passover and the start of Ramadan…all celebrated from a distance while in this together.
Here are some examples for discovery of the awe:
- One’s Body: The miraculous birth of a child. The feeling at the end of an intense physical achievement. The ability to do something again after being sick and losing that physical function for a time. When is a moment you have felt awe within your body? When have you witnessed awe in another’s body?
- One’s Mind: The sudden instinctual action to save a life. (Remember grabbing a child’s hand before they run into the street? Or turning the car quickly to avoid a skid?) The intensity of love. The intensity of hate. Discovering you can love a part of yourself or another that you once hated.
We hope these explorations are helping you find peace in these troubled times.