Staying Focused and Balanced in Troubled Times   

So many of you have questions about staying focused, and finding balance in your lives, that I'd like to offer some simple rhythms I use during my day. With much experimentation I've figured out that whatever daily practices I do must meet several requirements, or I stop doing them. A practice must:

• Calm and quiet me.
• Bring me pleasure.
• Help me shift my energy
• Bring me into my body and spirit.

So, for example, if something takes too much time or is too complicated to learn, it doesn't calm me, so I stop doing it.

Our intent underlies and feeds everything: reflecting on intent guides what we do, and don't do, during the day. When we know our intent, we can figure out methods, practices, and our requirements, and the rhythms that take us back into balance can follow. Your intent, and your requirements, may be different from mine. What's important is to pay attention to what works for you, and do it!

Morning Rhythms: Starting the Day Full, Focused, and Connected

I like to wake with first light. This lets me watch the dawn as I doze into consciousness; it is also a fruitful time for insight, so I keep a notepad by my bed during this "hour of power."  

Images from dream, journey, or meditation are extremely potent at this time of day. I usually have one image I work with until it fades (often in about two weeks). For example, in a journey recently, where we stepped into the "fire of wisdom" to begin, my body became gold light as soon as I entered the fire. I was kept in this place for quite a while in the journey, exploring the nature of the light, the fire, how I felt, and what was transforming and floating away as ash. As this image is both potent and liminal for me, I have returned to it each morning (and at other times during the day) to explore and deepen its metaphorical and practical impact. I haven't tried to find a lot of words for what it "means;" rather, I focus on experiencing it. I know that much of our transformation and our ability to connect in new ways comes from these non-verbal, experiential perceptions-what others might call "raising vibration," or "entering new dimensions"-and I believe it's very important to learn to embody images we are given in meditation, dream, and journey.

I "greet the sun" when it rises with a wonderful, simple practice I learned in the Andes: Opening my mouth wide, I feel the rays of first sunlight touch the roof of my mouth. I swallow them, feeling and watching the gold light enter my brain, slide down my insides, fill my heart, my cells, my organs, and my limbs. I repeat this three times, concentrating on the felt experience. I know also that this practice helps me begin my day as a being of light, connected with the sun itself and the rhythm of the days.

So: I'm still in bed, I'm still floating in that in-between state. I snuggle with my sweet partner, making connection and feeding soul and spirit, even while I am attending to these other realms of deep listening and experiencing. His rhythm is different: he likes to rise and attend to business, so I've had to train him not to ask me about practical questions in the morning (they are distracting to my transitional state!) When he rises I focus a bit on the day: what I am supposed to do, what my intent is.

Then I do my exercises in bed, because I have learned that is the only place I am guaranteed to do them, and because it's so pleasant! Because my mind is still quiet, I can focus totally on the muscles and core work.  

Next I meditate, still in bed. I am exposing my lazy but surefire practices because it took me so long to give myself permission to do things the way they made sense for me. (I certainly wouldn't tell my meditation teacher!) All of us have a huge struggle keeping whatever meditation practices we have, so if I know I will do it here, why not? The connections I have already established-dreams, images, partner, sun, the nature of the day-feed and strengthen my meditation. This is when I send blessings to students, family, suffering places and beings. This is when I connect with the web of life, the heart-fields of other light workers, and groups I am connected with. This is also the first time during the day that I connect with earth and cosmos, or with the elements to release and fill.  

Any of these practices could be accomplished at another time of day if mornings do not work. Before you sleep. Lunchtime at work. And so on. I've been self-employed for nearly 30 years because, in part, that has let me make schedules that fit my body, my family, and the seasons. I know it's more of a challenge when you have a 9 to 5; and I know you can find rituals and rhythms that fit whatever schedule you have!

Shifting Energy

Another key way of getting into focus and balance has to do, really, with paying attention. Any time you are sitting too long, or thrown off balance by a conversation, or stuck, it's important to find ways to:

• Clear your mind
• Get out of your head and into your heart
• Return to your body
• Connect with spirit   

I've written about many methods of shifting energy over the years, but everyone has to find their own, find what works. The key is to do something! Five minutes of chi gong. A short, mind-clearing walk. Intense exercise on your lunch break. Yoga fire breath. Toning or singing as you drive. Lying on the earth and returning to your breath (shivasana). Whatever.

Now, this brings us to habits and distractions. We all have them. They are insidious in our culture, worse if you are a media junkie. The issue is: are they feeding you? Do you need to do it? What else might you be doing?

The most practical method I have found is to choose one habit/distraction that I want to change, and work on it. I try to find a different way that will shake up the habit part as well as being a little silly. Too much computer time is my best example, because it is an ongoing struggle. One practice that worked for me is to open my computer while I am brushing my teeth, and scan my email while I am brushing: it is time-limited, goofy, and makes me stop so I don't drool! I know there's a disadvantage: I don't respond immediately to people. Yet I choose this over being on call constantly, just as I choose not to use a smart phone or texting. I want to keep focused on my intent, and my balance!

There are other ways to respond to the constant barrage of requests, for sure. I admire my teacher Sandra Ingerman for her willingness to respond to the hundreds of Yahoo group posts her students make (not to mention private emails). How she does it, even in the midst of caring for her aging parents, is to make immediate, quick responses on her smart phone to all emails, usually just one sentence. This makes people feel heard, and feel good that their teacher is responsive; it lets her take care of business with a minimum of backlog.    

Anyway, you are a smart person and can figure out your own ways! These are just some examples to get you thinking outside the box.

Knowing and Being

Another part of focus and balance has to do with what we really need to know--the stuff of the mind, information, and data--and what we need to be.

So many of us fall into the web of the web, whether it's Facebook, web sites, newsletters, or YouTube links. Curiosity is wonderful, but one thing leads to another and we discover that two hours have gone by, or four.  

Here are the questions I ask, every day, many times a day:

• Do I need this information?
• How will this link feed me? Feeding might be entertaining, or energy-shifting, or fear-engendering, or distracting, or overwhelming, or whatever. If intent is clear, we can make choices more easily.
• Do I need to do this right now (in the middle of writing an article or preparing for a class) or can it wait till I have space to explore new stuff?
• How will this information or activity help me on my life path? Help me stay in balance? Help me stay focused, or not?
• In this moment, will I feel happier if I stick with my intent, or cut loose?

With all the suffering in the world, severe problems everywhere, and our awareness of them, it is a constant challenge. Some of us become ostriches, hiding from "news;" I've done that myself in times of burnout and discouragement. Yet I see now that having an open heart-knowing what is happening, facing it with equanimity, and paying attention to what I can and cannot attend to-is a more viable way of being in the world. Having an open heart helps me with my intent, with balance, and with focus: I no longer need the details of the latest invasion or famine, and I do need to hold those people and places in my heart as I try, with you, to repair and strengthen the web of interconnections that holds us together. 

Silence helps. Shifting perception and energy helps. Having intent and sticking with it helps. Beauty helps. Being connected with all beings helps.

Gratitude

Thank you, everyone who responded to my experimental questionnaire! (If you still want to respond, click here.) I am humbled, amazed, and inspired by what you shared. Among other things, it has really helped me clarify and hone what I am writing about now, and what I'll save for the next book. I will be sending a more detailed reply to responders later, and wanted to express my deep gratitude right away!

Meg Beeler/Earth Caretakers    

Copyright � 2012

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