Today is July 5 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “how often are you aware of the now?” Siddhasana or Accomplished Pose, is an ancient, seated asana in yoga often used for meditation. Siddha comes from Sanskrit meaning "perfect" and "adept," and asana meaning "posture" or "seat."
Ann Swanson noted the posture is also referred to as Accomplished Pose because it was the goal of all other asanas to ready the body to sit in meditation in this way. Throughout the centuries many yogis would imply Siddhasana is the only pose practitioners would need, asking "When Siddhasana is mastered, of what use are the various other postures?"
As a side note the significance of Siddhasana reminds us that the poses or postures in yoga have nothing to do with flexibility as their sole purpose is to ready the body and mind to sit in Siddhasana. In order to leverage your mind, body, and spirit to navigate the chaos and translate one dream after another into reality, one needs to be aware of the now. The nuance involved here is that one should not remain in the now.
Being aware of the now can help you better understand how to navigate the next step required to translate your dreams into reality. Being aware of the now can help you be present for those in your life who may need you at that given moment. Being aware of the now allows you to remain open to serendipity and pivot the direction in which you are moving.
There is little doubt that living in the present moment is hard work for humans. Dr. Eyal Winter, author of Feeling Smart: Why Our Emotions are More Rational Than We Think, suggests that “human psychology is evolutionarily hard-wired to live in the past and the future. Other species have instincts and reflexes to help with their survival, but human survival relies very much on learning and planning. You can’t learn without living in the past, and you can’t plan without living in the future.”
Those who successfully navigate the chaos understand Eckart Tolle’s observation that “Time isn’t precious at all because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”
Tolle published his best-selling book The Power of Now in 1997 and reached the New York Times Best Seller lists in 2000. Tolle has said that he was depressed for much of his life until he underwent, at age 29, an "inner transformation." He then spent several years wandering "in a state of deep bliss" before becoming a spiritual teacher.
Tolle wrote that one should “realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.” For some the trauma of life makes it difficult to be in the present moment. For those who have suffered greatly it may be virtually impossible for them to find a way forward in the present moment. Health concerns, financial issues, or relationship struggles are the three most common barriers preventing people from living in the now, accepting it, and then figuring out a way forward through the chaos.
If you find yourself in such a situation unable to navigate the chaos recall Tolle’s observation: “When there is no way out, there is still always a way through. So, don’t turn away from the pain. Face it. Feel it fully. Feel it — don’t think about it! Express it if necessary, but don’t create a script in your mind around it. Give all your attention to the feeling, not to the person, event, or situation that seems to have caused it. Do not let the mind use the pain to create a victim identity for yourself out of it. Feeling sorry for yourself and telling others your story will keep you stuck in suffering.”
Tolle noted the difficulty in moving away from one’s feelings so he suggested moving towards the emotions. Giving your complete attention to your feelings “might seem like a dark and terrifying place,” Tolle wrote, but doing so empowers one to not act on the pain but to “keep feeling the grief, the fear, the dread, the loneliness, whatever it is. Stay alert, stay present — present with your whole Being, with every cell of your body. As you do so, you are bringing a light into this darkness. This is the flame of your consciousness.”
Questions to consider for today’s reflection are:
How often can you sit and contemplate the present moment?
How often have you sat in Siddhasana?
If you have yet to sit in Siddhasana what is preventing you from doing so?
How often do you make the NOW the primary focus of your life?
Do you allow yourself to process the pain that may accompany the present moment?
Can you give yourself permission to explore the pain of the present moment?
Do you trust yourself to process your feelings in the present moment in order to bring light to your darkness?
How often do you remind yourself ‘there may be no way out but there is always a way through?’
How often do you work on understanding the relationship between the present moment and your consciousness?