When time expands
Conscious Living & Leadership Newsletter
I have been on summer holiday. The first proper holiday I have taken in years. Not because I couldn't, but because I struggle to take time off. Are you like that too? I find it hard to stop, part of me just wants to keep going, even though another part of me simply wants a break.
This year I disconnected completely for four weeks. No books, no mac, I actually did nothing. My head got to rest, I went to a festival, I was in openness, in the heart, in the intuitive.
Ah yes, that is what it was like to be in contact.
I like to think I am there most of the time, but I could feel I had forgotten it a little. Now I remembered it, I remembered what it was like.
I have noticed that when someone says something that feels true to me, I am moved. It is a signal in me about the moment here and now. Often it feels as if time stops, as if it expands and I have all the time in the world.
I know I get more done when I engage fully in the here and now. That is when the inner pressure in me settles, that is when I can feel that I land, in calm, and in openness.
I am now on my way back to a team I worked with before the summer.
Last week I spoke with someone who said; "I get stressed when my calendar is empty. It feels like I am not doing anything, I feel like I am not contributing."
I recognise it so well. We are so afraid of not being productive, of not being competent, not being included, not being liked. I am clearly in that circle myself, but every now and then I come back to the time that expands. I like rituals, conscious actions with meaning, you could call them conscious choices. It is a conscious choice to take the time to be in the here and now every day, a little all the time.
I am not my circumstances. I am not my thoughts. I am not even the person I think I am.
Who are you, really, when the day is empty and the calendar is completely open?
Exercise: let time expand
This is an exercise in stopping without having to achieve anything at all. It takes five minutes, and you need nothing.
- Stop where you are. Sit or stand, it doesn't matter. Let whatever you were doing rest.
- Breathe, and feel yourself landing in your body. Let your shoulders fall. Notice what is around you and within you, without changing anything.
- Ask yourself; "Who am I when I am not doing anything?" Empty your mind and observe the question, let the answer arise by being consciously present.
- Write down one word, one sentence, or draw a picture. Notice how it lands in your body.
Notice what happens to time while you do this exercise. My experience is that it expands.
Feel free to reply to this email and share what came up. I read and reply to everything.
Tantra therapy on Fridays
The exercise above is really the same work I do in tantra therapy, just in a mini version. Stopping, sensing, and letting what is there take up space without changing it.
Tantra therapy for couples and individuals: I have some available Fridays at Tantrasenteret in Oslo in August and September. For couples who want to work with presence and contact in the relationship, and for you who want to work individually with nervous system regulation, stress and your own patterns.
The hardest part is taking the first step. My experience is that those who take it find it worth it, and they come back.
Read more about tantra therapy
Circle of Friends
Friday 28 August at 14:30 (CEST) I am inviting you to a virtual coffee chat in Circle of Friends, a circle for you who want to create change in systems, in relationships, in yourself. Change arises in us when we meet ourselves in meeting others. Here we practise exactly that, conscious presence, together. We get to know each other better, and at the same time you help create a meeting place for presence and conscious choices.
The coffee chat takes place inside Circle of Friends, and it is free to join. If you are already a member, sign up directly. If you are not a member yet, join the circle first and sign up once you are inside.
Join Circle of Friends · Sign up for the coffee chat
💜 Welcome
Warm regards,
Andrea
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