The Rhythm of a Monday or simply finding Peace
I awoke this morning with a deep sense of restlessness. For awhile I tried to simply ignore this or pretend it was not there. But as I settled into my morning cup of tea and came to a place of ‘stop’, the deeper experience was very apparent.
The practice that I have when I finally stop and let myself notice what is happening is to ‘lean into the energy’ of it. In my heart there was distress…not of anything I could consciously name, simply the emotion of distress. I sometimes feel this on Monday mornings as many millions of people are returning to work after (potentially) have a weekend to more directly attend to their own selves & families. It seems to me that there is a ‘latent anxiety’ of going back to a week of long commutes, over full schedules, multi-tasking on every front, and the frequent feeling of overwhelm. I can feel this acutely at times so today I was wondering if it was just an extra hefty Monday.
I also have had this sensation in my heart when there has been some larger global crisis or suffering ~~ like on the morning of September 11thwhen I woke up crying and in deep distress for no apparent reason.
Today I have no idea the outer ‘cause’ of this distress, I only know what to do when I feel it ~~ and it goes something like this. I simply go into the feeling and place it in ‘arms of light, surrounded by love’. I let gentle tears flow if they are pushing and I ask for Peace to come ~ to me, to whomever is ‘calling’, to this world that seems in need of a much more Wholistic way of living. And I wait ~ I wait for my Heart to open to the gentleness of this flow of Peace. I wait for an experience of quietude to enter in. I wait until I am at Peace once more.
Today as I felt myself filled with a deep sense of quiet ~ a phrase from one of the songs that I sang in a concert recently in my small town here in New Hampshire came to consciousness. It was from a song about Paul Revere’s ride across the countryside to alert everyone that the British were coming.
“Sons & daughters of liberty, hear my call…hear my call..”
The call this morning was to a revolution of a different order…a return of this human family to a place of quiet, radiant peace. Where we know each other as part of one Whole ~ sons & daughters of a family that truly feels, sees and responds as One.
As the solstice Sun stands still this month, may we all take a moment to bring this Wholeness to our minds and hearts, and may the Silence of Sunday moments send an experience of quiet Peace into the body of humanity.
Blessings to you all,
Peri
As I read Peri's words our friends in Turkey came to mind. I am happy to introduce you to Burcu Yalman, who brought Coming Into Your Own to Turkey a couple years ago. She and Ipek Arcan are deep support to women in Istanbul and beyond. Burcu wrote this message to you all to include in this month's letter.
Closely,
Barbara
"If word was silver, silence would have been gold" says an old Turkish proverb. Being silent and listening deeply for what is trying to emerge is a virtue to treasure. And this treasure is what we, as Turks, have been longing for recently. Our hunger for a real democracy, inclusive leadership, freedom of expression and right to live freely, has been waiting to be heard through the #occupygezi protests since the end of May. Thousands of people sat in the parks and opened their hearts with hope. But nobody in the government has chosen to pause, be silent and listen deeply. İnstead of offering gold, if not silver, what they offered was metal cans of pepper gas bombs.
So, we as the Turkish CİYO community, would like to invite you all to offer your golden treasure to people who are desperately in need of real democracy and freedom all around the world. Let's share our silence with those who are forced to be silent in this cause and those who left us in silence to the other world. We believe that silence will be the seed for love, empathy and deeper connection for the betterment of humanity.
With love and gratitude, Burcu
Burcu
Ipek