Usually I find the last 15 minutes of a plane ride to be the most difficult. I have always enjoyed flying especially with the window seat; being continually fascinated by the long view down to the ground, fluffy clouds or even just a bright blue sky. Although, I have some years ago moved to the aisle for its added space and easier access to the wash room. Similar to long car rides I am fine driving, sitting, reading, watching, talking and listening or even napping. But something shifts in the last 15 minutes. I start to get a bit squirmy and eager to get to where I am going. It’s odd because nothing has changed from just a minute ago. I am still always “here” and it’s still “now.” What has apparently shifted is that I have separated into two parts. The me that is here and now and the part of me that has already left and is waiting for the rest of me to catch up. The squirminess is felt as the tension builds from being stretched from here to there.
I am not sure if I feel it first in my body or my thoughts. Either way I have options, once I become aware of the squirmy shift. First from a yoga perspective I can just let it be, feel the squirm and wait for its impermanent nature to dissolve. Second I can tense up and add to its uncomfortableness. Third (my personal favorite*) is to place attention on breathing and soften and relax any places of tension in my body. My thoughts tend to relax is unison and I settle back to whatever I was doing.
From another perspective it’s all about renewal.
There is a difference in renewal that comes spontaneously** as the result of an activity and a renewal that is gradually moved into by a series of cognitive thoughts.
Going to the sauna always most of the time ends with a forgetting of whatever was on my mind or sensations in my body. That is if I sit long enough and hot enough to have a good sweat and an almost exhausting sense of being used up. Using all of my energy to sit and absorb the heat and sensation throughout my body. Afterward, I walk outside and the air is fresh and the view is always beautiful. Why is that? What is this sense of clean and fresh and renewed?
I think it is a release, a surrender into now. For a moment everything is forgotten and now my awareness has returned to whatever is there. And it is fresh and new to this moment. Like a new toy wrapped in colorful paper ready to be ripped open and played with right now.
A long walk in the woods or at the beach or up a mountain path or playing tennis or a good jog or workout. I imagine anything that I can become fully immersed in both physically and mentally. For some I imagine even a good argument can focus all of the attention and a sense of release or renewal can follow.
For renewal at any time I can slow down and really focus on the movement of my hands. Watch my fingers wiggle or straighten out and stretch. Breathe deeply and focus on the flow of breath for seven breaths like the start of a meditation and then be like a Buddha and sit in the middle of it all — watching the show. Sitting and watching as if everything “I” see, hear, touch and feel is all part of the movie, a mystery and I am amused by the developing plot.
*An alternative is to time a nap (if I am not driving) to wake up just as the plane is landing.
**In image above try this stare at body for 2 seconds and then look into yellow sky
Spiritual Gravity 