I have been thinking about the flow of the Ganges. How you wake up and fall asleep to her constant song. I have been thinking how powerful her flow felt. How loud. Ceaseless. It was so healing for me in Phool Chatti Ashram. Her song accompanying me until it blended with my breath. And I could physically, mentally, let go of deep emotions. Deep-seated emotions that had a grip on me.
Been back for a couple of weeks. And the notion, and the sound, of the flow are taking another shape. Life, the feeling that there is no time, the constant white noise from every screen, they are the flow now. An equally strong flow, even though it’s invisible, is seeping into my brain. In its formless shape it is so loud, that I forget to feel – not fill – the silence. To let the silence just be there. And trust my body to lead when it ready. But I forget. And lose my footing in the strong flow of life and let it lead.
And so the challenge, and the real practice for me, becomes to manage the flow, to stand tall in the midst of its gushiest, foamiest current and still breathe deep and smooth; to stand in the eye of the storm and see the beauty in the challenge. See beyond the whirlwind of the moment and direct the energy it creates to somehow propel forward, or sideways, but one step closer in nonetheless.
So my last couple of classes were inspired by that constant flow of the goddess of the Ganges, and some of the tracks we were playing were for the goddess Durga. The goddess of Inner Strength and protection.
Invoking strength to meet ourselves. As we are. Standing tall in the midst of the flow.
