The first cosmic law of ahimsa, the practice of non-harm, teaches us that to fulfill our humanity as a fully developed person we must strengthen our capacity to gain awareness. Awareness informs the mind of reason, logic, critical thinking, and understanding. It helps us to bring consciousness to our daily life and to create the necessary time and space for regular, cyclical pauses.
Once we foster this space both internally and externally, we discover the freedom to be at ease with ourselves, to reclaim our vast inner resources of loving awareness, and ultimately, to dissolve fear, resolve hurt, and conquer despair.
Our present-day environment of crises is a juncture that grants us unspoken permission to rest and resolve inner conflict—so that we can recast our vision and effect necessary changes in our lives. While being forced to cut loose from the secure norms of daily routines, there is also an opportunity for deep inner healing.
To cultivate personal awareness and heal, we must make time to pause, reflect, and be at one with what appears to be broken inside of us.
We must step back, hang loose, and put aside an over-scheduled life. Instead, let us invite a simpler, more sheltered space that is serene, uncluttered, and distanced from the baggage of our busy, modern living conditions.
The Importance of Slowing Down
Years after my own arduous self-healing process, and having since helped so many others to heal themselves, I believe the most important steps for self-healing are to stop in our tracks, be still, and take pause. As simple as it sounds, this is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do.
Why? Because we have grown accustomed to carrying the burdens of materialistic existence with laden goals that consume our time, effort, and energy, keeping us in a constant state of movement and stress. But the natural state of our internal space is preordained for ease, joy, and reflection.
In the present accelerated existence, we must slow down to take back the spaciousness that is our birthright and our natural state of being. This spacious awareness is the immutable part of the human anatomy, and by using it we refine our power to be at ease and heal.
Within this terrain of inner spaciousness is the wellspring of awareness—the moment to moment state of living in harmony with our environment.
When we cannot heal despair or disease, it is because our internal space that safeguards life-force, ease, and simplicity has become tense and crowded. When we nourish awareness, we become more compassionate, intuitive, and creative. Even when surrounded by negative behaviors or unforeseen events, we can still retreat into the inner sanctuary of stillness.
Creating Space for Self-Healing
Ancestral memories and patterns tend to fasten us to negativity, causing us to focus on the nuances and declivity of every despairing incident, and in turn shrinking our inner spaciousness. Ultimately, it is this lack of internal spaciousness that harms us the most.
While it is challenging to remain positive when you are held captive by harmful events and dissonant elements—as in our present global environment—we must muster up the courage to create time for periodic stillness.
As we honor the primordial human need for inner spaciousness, we initiate space for self-healing.
In modern culture, disease and despair are foremost conditions that give us unspoken permission to take leave from the mundane routines and daily haggles of life. This space allows us to retreat, finding a more natural cadence by returning to the expansive inner space that interweaves with universal balance and harmony.
Common misperceptions that often thwart the healing process are notions such as, “I can't take time for myself right now,” or “I have too many other commitments to take care of,” or “there is no way I can create time to do this.”
The ahimsa rule of healing, on the other hand, proclaims that nothing else is as important as our well-being, and for this, the art of pause is our greatest medicine. We recognize that this pause is not only essential, but an imperative part of our awareness-evolution.
Trusting the Power of Pause
At present we are facing manifold layers of crises. We are being called to invoke the deepest faith in Mother Nature and to trust that each healing crisis transforms us into bigger and better human beings.
The path of healing to which I have become a constant companion is hallowed in sentiency. It has taught me to grow a sentient mind and a spirit that exudes brilliant light. When we change our moment to moment rhythm, our goals, values, and capacity to face challenges also change.
We discover the deep gems of Mother Earth, emulating her seasons and becoming witnesses to her unbearable beauty. Like Mother Earth, we honor cyclical pauses. Each “pause” is the golden salve that safeguards our sanity and health, so that humanity can continue to thrive in loving light. Once we take pause, the process of settling into serenity happens naturally.
Ahimsa Meditation—Pause, Be Still, and Heal
This mini meditation practice is one way to cultivate space for the simple and healing act of pause. It offers immediate access to inner spaciousness, wherein we can allow the mind and emotions to settle, even amid uncertainty and chaos.
The goal of this practice is not to search or expect immediate answers to a dilemma, rather it will help you discover the right questions. Clarity exudes naturally from a mind that is poised in ease, once the turbulence of thoughts and emotions have become still. So let us enjoin spirit and begin our journey into the sacred pause.
- Set up a candle or a ghee lamp on your altar, or on a low table in a serene place in your home. Sit comfortably and gently gaze at the flame for a few minutes, blinking as little as possible.
- Follow the flickering flame with your eyes for a few moments. The mind will naturally merge into the flame.
- Gently close your eyes and hold the vision of this golden light within, envisioning the light permeating your heart chakra. When you notice your thoughts drifting about, offer them to the flame.
- Loosely invite the intention of emptying your heart of hurt, despair, anxiety, disease, and loneliness, offering each of these to the flame. Ask the flame to cleanse all negative emotions, allowing its golden light to purify your inner space and calm your heart.
- After spending some time with the heart, continue to envision the flame in the space of your third eye, at the center of the forehead.
- Keep the following mantras in the background of your mind:
I am awareness.
I am wellness.
Everything I see reveals this light.
Everything I think reveals this awareness.
- Pause in inner spaciousness. Be Still. Heal.
