The Question of Balance

The month of July was filled with traveling but empty of blog posts on my website. This perturbed me at first, but I have had to remind myself that as in all areas of life, even in the world of blogging, balance is important.

Too many posts can overwhelm the reader and too few can make them lose interest. The blogger has to find the right balance, and even then there are times when circumstances are such that no posts are in order too.

Two weeks of July were spent in South Africa and two in Canada. It was during my last weekend in Canada and whilst visiting Vancouver that the message of balance was clearly delivered to me yet again.

Walking through Stanley Park along the sea wall, we were suddenly confronted by a wonderful scene as we turned a corner. Stone sculptures set against a backdrop of water, formed a magnificent picture of beauty, stillness and balance.

The balanced stones appeared to defy gravity and filled me with awe. They seemed to whisper a tale of centredness and groundedness in the present moment, but at the same time the aura of stillness around them seemed to connect to other times and other places.

They were set in the nunc fluens, the Latin for “the flowing now”, the ongoing moments of time, but spoke of the nunc stans, the abiding now, a dimension beyond linear time where distinctions between past, present and future fall away.

Nearby a man was moving stones around and on the seawall was a guest book and prints of photos of the sculptures. Fascinated by the scene, that evening I googled “temporary balanced stones”, words I had seen written on something as we passed by.

The man is Kent Avery and he has been coming to this spot for 12 years to practice the art of stone balancing. Particulary amazing is that he comes back every week, as tides and wind ensure that the sculptures are not permanent. Kent Avery says of his art that it “really seems to bring something out in people. Many echo the yearning to be more balanced in their own lives.”

The sculptures take anything from five minutes to half an hour to complete and the whole process is done by feel.

Many of us are caught up in habits and rigid ways of doing things. The sculptures are a reminder that balance is found by being in tune with each moment as it arises. Balance requires openness to what is before us. What worked yesterday will not necessarily work today or in the future. What works for one child will not necessarily work for another. The way a task is completed at work is not a guarantee that the same principles can be applied to the next project at hand.

Balance holds the hand of mindfulness.

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Balance helps to establish a path of moderation, and therefore a path of wisdom.

Please take the time to watch this video of Kent Avery’s art:

Balance is not only a personal but also a collective struggle in a world crying out for love and compassion. If you wish you can also listen to “Balance” by The Moody Blues. The track is from their album “A Question of Balance”.

Related posts:

Mindfulness and Balance, posted exactly a year ago today. (Interesting!)

The Gathering.

Mindfulness - Starting Out

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”. Jon Kabat-Zinn

This implies that what is experienced, be it for example, the breath, bodily sensation, emotion, thought or event, is acknowledged, without judgement, as it occurs in the field of one’s attention.

The practice of mindfulness at specific times and at intervals throughout the day has been proven to help with amongst others, stress, pain reduction, anxiety and depression. Conscious awareness has also enabled individuals to develop more positive habits and outlooks as they become gradually aware of detrimental, habitual patterns of thought and action.

These are all added benefits, as first and foremost, mindfulness helps you to be fully present in the moment as it is happening right now.

Mindfulness helps to bring about what Thich Nhat Hanh calls “the unity of the body and the mind”. Often the body is here, but the mind is completely somewhere else.

Being lost in thought, caught up in regrets, fears, anger, anxiety, plans or perceptions, prevents you from being fully there for yourself or others. Awareness of what is occurring as it occurs, helps you over a period of time to not identify with feelings, emotions or thoughts as they arise. You begin to realize that you are not the pain you are feeling right now. You are not your anger or your happy feeling. The perceptions you hold onto, often hold you as a victim, and awareness of them, without judgement, loosens their grip.

As the breath is a link between the body and the mind it is a good friend to have when you start your practice.

Whether you practice at a set time every day for a certain number of minutes (5, 10 or 15 mins a session is more than enough to begin with); whether you practice once or twice a day; whether you practice seated in a particular chair with your back straight and your feet on the ground; whether you practice lying down upon waking or before going to sleep or both; whether you stop at brief intervals throughout the day for a few seconds - in all of these instances become aware of each breath as it enters your body and then as it leaves. Don’t worry if the breath is shallow or deep. Simply observe it and then repeat the process. Concentration on the in-breath and the out-breath is your practice. When your mind wanders off, notice it and then return your focus to the breath.

After a while you will begin to notice the length of your in-breaths and your out-breaths and the space of time in-between them. Do so without judgment.

After you become more familiar with this practice, you can extend your awareness to bodily sensations as they are occurring in your body. “Oh, my right knee is paining”. “There is a tingling in my neck”.

As you continue your practice over time, you can then extend your awareness to your emotions and thoughts. “I am livid with so-and-so”. “I have to plan for tomorrow’s meeting”. Observe these but do not engage them. By that I mean, do not allow yourself to get caught up in the emotion or go down the lane the thought is wanting to lead you. Simply, observe, and then return to a conscious awareness of the in and out breath if necessary.

A mindfulness practice helps you to observe yourself looking out at the world and all that living entails. Gradually and as your practice overflows into all you do, you are set free to experience life as it is happening right now and in this moment.

If you are able to set aside just over an hour to watch an excellent video on mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn it can be found here.

There is much being written about mindfulness at the moment. If you would like to follow a blog, Elisha Goldstein’s “Mindfulness - Your Present Moment” is a good place to start.

The #mindfulness Daily has various sections with daily articles on mindfulness.

“You are here” by Thich Nhat Hanh is an excellent little book to read.

For those of you with an academic interest in mindfulness, the website of UCLA is a good one.

Mindfulness, I believe, is one of the major keys to a healthier society. If you have already started on a practice of mindfulness and have a favorite book, blog, website, idea, etc that you would like to share, please do so in the comments section below. Shared resources are an encouragement to those starting out with a mindfulness practice.

Centre of Now

Downtown Dubai recently launched a campaign entitled “The Centre of Now”. It aims to highlight this area as the hub of what is seen as a global cultural movement focusing on fields such as architecture, business, cuisine and culture.

Currently living in this area, I am often subjected to the advertisement banners for “The Centre of Now”.  

Words are wrapped in layers of meaning waiting to be unfolded. For me, the words “centre” and “now” have connotations of mindfulness and so I look at the banners with perhaps an added appreciation.

Jon Kabat-Zinn states, “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”.

Mindfulness calls us to be present right where we are. It invites us to be centered in our current now and to be aware of it. This practice assists us in arriving at what may be termed the “Centre of Now”.

Each person’s Centre of Now is unique, influenced by location, state of mind, feelings, culture, upbringing and worldview.  At the same time, there is a collective Centre of Now shared by us all. It is a place of stillness beyond it all, a whirlpool of possibilities, an invitation to creativity.

As I write from the city of Dubai, I am reminded of the Bedouins who knew what it was to have a centre which was always changing as they wandered through the borderless desert. Immediate movement was always a probability and wandering was an act of connectedness. The ecology of the desert was a reminder that life was interconnected. 

This is a century of mobility. Habitation is no longer seen as being fixed and global citizens are on the move. 

This century also brings with it a technology unheard of before. Connectivity and communication have been made possible in ways that boggle the mind.

As citizens of a global village, we need to seek in newfound ways, as global nomads, the centre the Bedouins were very aware of.

It will bring us to the Centre of Now, the heart of the present moment.

You are invited to watch the following video. I view the scene in it from my balcony. At the foot of the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai fountains dance to the music of “Baba Yetu” by Christopher Tin. The lyrics are in Swahili and are a translation of the Our Father. It epitomizes for me the hope I find present in a global city, where I daily experience amazing diversity and at the same time a feeling of great unity. Surely this will be present at the Centre of Now.