Here is another important inner task from Cynthia as we learn to be present to both our own inner rhythm as well as the rhythms around us. These words from Etty Hillesum speak to our work:
“First and foremost, you must listen to your own rhythm, and try to live in accordance with it. Be attentive to what emerges from deep down. Often, our actions are only imitations, fulfillment of an assumption of duty, or a reflection of what we believe a human being ‘should’ be. But the only certainty we may have about our life and our deeds can only spring from the very depth of our being.”
Let this month’s inner task bring you into a deeper embodied awareness of your own rhythm and what its pulse feels like especially as it is in relationship with the rhythms surrounding you in widening circle.
Inner Task:
Allow yourself to sink through the level of initial chatter of your mind and discover the rhythm of the work you are doing.
Notice the pulse and pace of your work or activity.
Experiment with deliberately speeding it up and slowing it down while still staying in relationship to the pulse.
Extend and keep in the field of your vision some other rhythm.
Take it in without losing connection with your rhythm.
Notice the horizontal rhythms (what is happening around you during the course of your day as you interact in the world) and your vertical alignment (that deeper knowing that accompanies you always).
This is the second in a monthly series of Inner Tasks accompanying the work in The Wisdom Jesus Book Circle. This post was given to work with during the month between February 23 and March 23, 2021.
Images from the top: Barefoot Walking, courtesy of author Clint McKoy, Unsplash; Martin’s Brook, March 23, 2021 image courtesy of Laura Ruth
Resource offered by Heather Ruce.
Wisdom Jesus Book Circle
A monthly series of resources from the friends and leaders of the Wisdom Waypoints Book Circle Series on: The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind—A New Perspective on Christ and His message by Cynthia Bourgeault.