I subscribe to this newsletter that I absolutely love that sends me astrological forecasts for each month and insight around any lunar happenings (If you’re interested, here’s the website: www.thepowerpath.com). So I just received the October forecast and it talks about the theme for October being balance, in a way that brings more alignment and integration among all of the things we’ve been juggling. Part of this balance comes from restoring our balance between being and doing: “This month become aware of your tendency to infuse everything with ‘doing’. Even when you pray, contemplate, focus on intentions, or ‘do’ a meditation, you are still in ‘doing’ mode. Receptivity needs to be 100 percent if you are going to receive. You can only fully receive while ‘being’ 100 percent receptive.” It suggests noticing when you’re in a ‘doing’ mode and drop into ‘being’ and notice this shift back and forth.
I don’t know about for you all, but this really resonates for me–I can totally relate to ‘doing’ practices that are supposed to help me ‘be’. My own therapist recently made the distinction for me between letting whatever is happening for me just be there (whether it’s confusion, overwhelm, lack of clarity) versus trying to shift out of this space. My ‘go to’ is usually to try to change my state, to ‘do’ something to try to drop down into a ‘being’ mode or drop down into my heart. Rather than just knowing that ‘being’ in my heart and connected with my essence is my natural state. I don’t need to do anything to get there but rather allow myself to be present with whatever is. When sitting with my therapist, I had a felt experience of this shift from ‘doing’ to ‘being’ when I stopped trying to drop my awareness down into my heart and allowed myself to be where I was, all of a sudden I felt more heartful, more grounded, and more present.
So here’s my challenge for you this week: As you go about your day, notice if you’re bringing a quality of ‘doing’ or ‘being’ to your experience. Without judging or resisting, just notice what it’s like to be in ‘doing’ and what it’s like in ‘being’. How does the same experience feel different when you’re ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’? I’d love to hear your feedback!
Also, here’s a great interview with spiritual teacher Mukti that demonstrates a practice (the practice: what is rest?) that speaks to ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’ It’ll take less than 7min to watch and is totally worth it! (start at 16:00min and go to about 21:30min for the specific practice): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz8KkQ79uSI Hope you enjoy!
Suggestion: Just notice when you are in an experience of ‘doing’ this week and when you are in an experience of ‘being’–what other differences do you notice?
Affirmation: May you be fully present with whatever is.