Mindful Mondays|Week 15: Oscillation

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Before we begin, let’s get settled down into a chair or on the floor, in a tall, seated position with a nice long spine that creates an alertness and yet is not rigid. Before we close our eyes, let’s take a moment to slowly move our head from side to side. Looking as far to the right as you can, take a nice long exhale. On the inhale, come back to the center. On the next exhale, look as far as you can to the left. Inhale again back to the center, and on the next exhale, lower your chin to your chest. Feel a nice, opening stretch on the back of your neck. We’re going to do the side-to-side motion a couple more times just to loosen the neck. Let’s get familiar with the room and the surroundings as well as stretch out those neck muscles. Oscillate your head very slowly from the right and left a couple of more times on your own. Settle back to the center when you’ve done a few more.

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When you’re ready and if it’s safe to do so, go ahead and close your eyes. Take a moment to feel the looseness in your neck. Now, focus your attention inward to the breath. Get a good sense of grounding here. Feel your body as a whole breathing in and breathing out. Allow whatever comes up to come up. Maybe it is thoughts come in or something you know you need to get done or something you are worrying or stressing about. Maybe it’s an emotion — a good one or a more difficult one to handle. Let those just come in — the thoughts, feelings, emotions, or any sensations. They can come in and you can go back to the focus on the breath. No need to stay on one thing. Just allow a nice flow. Allow the thoughts to come in, to rise, and to fall. Allow any emotion to bubble to the surface and watch as it falls back as you refocus on your breath.

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As your thoughts and feelings rise in you like a wave, just imagine they are pulling you to the left and to the right. Just like your neck, the oscillation of a fan is sitting on one centered joint. This is moving with ease, not restraining or restriction. It’s okay if something pulls you to the left or pulls you to the right. Can you find some balance here? Allow things to sway you nice and gently, evenly, from side to side — but always returning to the center.

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I wonder if it’s okay here to have pendulating emotions? If you are remaining on a centered post and an emotion is bringing you from the left to the right, is there choppiness there? Is there a high swing or low swing? If it’s too fast, it can start to feel uncentered. A nice, smooth oscillation allows there to be expansion from one side to the other and with a smoothness, a cadence, and a controlled rhythm. It will always pass back through the center. Can that be true for you today? Thoughts may sway you wildly from side to side, but if they have to pass through your center, can you find that gentle cadence? Can you be okay with the pendulation? Can you find a safe, grounded space amidst the pulls and pushes of the world? Let’s stay here another moment.

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Let’s come back to the body, sitting in this centered, grounded space — alert but not rigid, relaxed and restful but focused. Allow that balance to a place you can return to when the ebb and flow, the push and pull, the swaying of the world gets to be too much. Allow this space of oscillation to carry you through any chaos or disruption today. Be well.