We Have The Wisdom We Need

I love how the change of seasons aligns with what I feel inside. It does seem that with the start of each season, I am ready for the shift that's coming. Starting my groups over the past week, after a handful of weeks off, I am relieved to have a schedule again. At the start of summer, I am ready for a loosening of my routine, but now it feels so good to get back in a groove. I hope your first weeks of September have brought you some welcomed change, also.

I've had an interesting revelation over something that's been gnawing at me over the past year. It was coming across as a kind of existential crisis. The word "crisis" feels a bit dramatic and not quite right as I was not stuck or limited in my functioning around things, but it hasn't felt easy either. In preparation for my upcoming retreat (for those of you who don't know, I am holding my first A Mindful Life retreat this fall at the Dharmakaya Center in upstate New York. It is already full, but I hope to do more in the future), I used the tools I facilitate with to listen to myself. This means to really inquire by putting judgment aside (not so easy) and ask questions as if someone else is asking me so that I can think and feel my way through and articulate what I find. It takes effort and time. It is easy to put off. It takes staying power and trust that I can find my own way if I keep staying curious and ask the next opening question.

I arrived at something that I knew was true and new because it left with me with that feeling of awe that comes when we discover something we have been searching for. It's not resolved by any means, but I have a greater understanding of why these existential questions were plaguing me and what I'm needing. I don't know how to fill the need, yet, but I am letting that much digest.

I share this with you because it, once again, reminded me of the power of intentional self inquiry that is not thwarted by our critic, rather is encouraged by our inner knowing. We ask ourselves questions, giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt that there is something true to uncover; we just need to ask the "right" questions that will reveal it. It may not happen all in one sitting, but we can start and then know when to put it down until we can pick it up again. Sometimes with the help of another trusted being who can ask the next helpful question or hold the necessary space.

My invitation this week is when you notice yourself up against something inside, to take time to sit with yourself and ask open, un-judgmental, affirming questions (by that I mean inquiries that trust in your intelligence and inner wisdom) and see what you find. Be curious about yourself. So much more can come from here than from numbing out, knocking oneself down, ignoring, or waiting for someone else to show you. You've probably heard the adage that we have all the wisdom we need inside ourselves. This process, I believe, shows us what this means.

🌻
Jean

P.S.  I wrote a piece on asking opening questions in a past newsletter. To  get some more ideas on how, you can read it here.  If you have a hard time making the space to stop and be in a contemplative space, I have a Beginning Mindfulness Meditation Series starting in October and that could be a good place to start.