Sea of Consciousness
Sea of Consciousness by Dani
Deep deep ocean
Blue blue sea
How can all that once was
shall always be?
Contemplating consciousness
Floating within
Both you and me.
Splashing
In and out
Up and down
getting tipped, tossed, tumbled and strewn around
Trying to be tethered to this buoy
Bobbing in the sea
my mind wanders
Constantly bringing it back
to just truly be
Why study consciousness?“Consciousness is the most widely used yet most underestimated form of power we have at our command. Our very lives, our very substance of all that is, and all our actions are dependent upon a conscious awareness or intelligence. “ If consciousness is not the spark of life itself, and it is certainly the key to the discovery of that spark. What do we know of life except through our consciousness?” Anodea Judith from the Wheels of Life
When we study our own consciousness we find it has many different facets. These aspects occur both within and around us comprising the fundamental basis of any reality we experience.
Each of us is usually aware of different parts within ourselves. We are aware of the parts of us that thinks, while there may be other parts of us that wants or needs and the differences can be present simultaneously. Perhaps still there is yet another part that exists and that acts even when we don't want it to. If we’re lucky these parts agree, most often our many parts disagree and don't always work in sync with the whole being, causing suffering and frustration. In most cases, these parts become a myriad of crisscrossing energies, tugging and pulling, knowing and questioning, striving and settling, holding and exploding … all fluctuations within our consciousness and our ever changing existence.
The mind might say one thing as the heart sings a different tune, while the body’s intelligence shows up with an entirely different melody. Are we really listening to the call or are we stuck in the churning of our old story? This tidal push, pull in out of our awareness is a conflict robbing the whole being of its innate energy and health for new vitality in the present. To heal means to make a hole. Typically we have difficulty organizing ourselves towards going in a tidal direction of a harmonizing tune. It might be the path the least traveled or one that requires us to deeply dive more presence, pain or response with sometimes letting go of the anchor and floating in it for a bit.
Our tools and techniques in the practice of yoga and meditation disciplines give us a way to navigate this vast sea of consciousness, a place to turn our senses inward to ourselves and settle our thoughts and patterning so that the body and mind settle into a place beyond the thinking. At the beginning, the thoughts are still there like an undercurrent; we are just no longer get caught in the rip tide at the moment . The practice of yoga is a place where we give ourselves permission and time to hear our innate knowledge that is deep within just by being present with our body, thoughts, emotions and awareness of the integrated Self- with no judgement or anchor. We let the mind float …. And then in our living of our daily life we make choices from what came up and through us to take action and make choices.
Consciousness is so broad, so abstract and so to diffuse that, we can only study its manifestations. While these manifestations may be considered by some to be nothing but available illusion, it is certainly a most well ordered illusion of self-examination. Perhaps by understanding the implied order we can come to understand consciousness itself. If not we at least have a means with which to approach it through studying the Chakra System as the map for ourselves to look deep within into areas of our whole being. Here are some key areas we dove during this past March Yoga retreat with the Chakra system. See which area you want to maybe journal deeper or ask me about .
What helps me be grounded and safe?
When do I feel happy, creative and beautiful?
How do I make things happen?
Am I willing to give and receive love for others and myself?
Do I speak my own truth, listen to others and express myself?
Can I see my mind, body and spirit are connected?
Am I open to the miracles of life?
We explored these concepts of consciousness through using the map of the Chakra System at the Heartful Yoga Mexico Retreat this past March through in depth workshops containing contemplative thought practices, asana, pranayama, Mudra & Mantra techniques and a collective Heartful art making experience.
Each day we collaborated working on the basis and fundamentals of each of the main energy centers within our body taking a look and listen, exploring through what came up, where things moved around and deciphering its properties and its deficiencies to activate our own awareness. We used an array of classic Hatha yoga techniques as well as art principles to sensitize our self to our inner state of being.
Once we established our heightened awareness within our selves, we collectively explored different art mediums with techniques onto the canvas to explore and capture what needed to come out. We jumped into this collective energetic flow of creativity together with no agenda for the art piece to be something specific but rather a place to follow clues to let the creative energy ebb and flow.
Each day the collective masterpiece changed like the tides across the street from Villa Shanti and by the end of the week our picture told the visual story of what it needed to tell - A story of the deep Sea of Consciousness . Take a look at this print and maybe you too can see and feel the undercurrent of life deep below the surface of the sea!
Every Heartful Art Making workshop is unique to the theme I create and the people who are willing to show up. No two experiences will ever be the same, nor will this masterpiece and experience be replicated. It is visual story of the creativity of moment as we come together. Individually unique and collectively experienced . Each print is then designed to be manufactured for all to share and wear !
This past retreat was so successful, I booked another retreat for next year March 25 –April 1, 2023! I hope you join me for in a deep dive into your practice and place to have some fun .