I haven’t blogged in a week or two because a lot of my energy was diverted to assist with a sudden family illness.  Please note that I said a lot of my energy and not all of it!  I think when times get really tough, we tend to throw in the self-care towel feeling that this would be a selfish practice at this time.  We can also tend to be sucked into the dark hole of fear as we forget that we are part of something greater, we loose faith.   We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t experience a meridian of emotions particularly in challenging times.  I kept reminding myself that God is in this story somehow.  My mantra has been patience and trust.

It was endearing and grounding to have my mother mirroring a lot of my emotions.  At one point she said that she kept giving her fear to God but she kept taking it back!  I love this very human acknowledgement of her struggle with surrender.  I found myself comforted by the parable of the vine and the branches from John 15.  Jesus says “I am the vine; you are the branches. Abide in me as I in you” – John 15:4–5.   Later he says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love” -John 15:9. Abide in me, what a beautiful expression of love, a love that reminds us that we are never alone and constantly connected (like a branch) to our source of faith and strong love.

Father Richard Rohr expresses this so eloquently in one of his daily mediations from the Center of Contemplation and Action here:  There is no separation between humans and God because of this mutual interabiding which expresses the indivisible reality of divine love. We flow into God—and God into us—because it is the nature of love to flow. And as we give ourselves into one another in this fashion, the vine gives life and coherence to the branch while the branch makes visible what the vine is. . . From a yogic perspective the idea of flow just warms my heart and speaks of movement.  Moving our bodies and our emotions so we do not get stuck in the mire of fear in the darker times.  Literally God is moving, flowing in our lives in ways that we do not always comprehend.

 I also like the way Fr. Richard expresses that the branch makes visible what the vine is.  This truly is faith in action and of letting others see God in us.  This is not easy when we are stressed but if we can take some small actions of self-care to remove the cloud of fear within us and around us we can then radiate at a higher frequency (fear is a very low frequency), we can bring heaven down to earth and to ourselves. We trust that the vine is nourishing and directing the movement of the branch without question, as we innately reach for our source even in the darkness.

So, let’s talk briefly about some of those small actions that we can take to protect our energy and align more with our source, to be a branch that knows where our nourishment is coming from.  I can only speak for myself, but when circumstances prevent me from getting a full yoga practice in there is much that can be done to maintain some semblance of harmony.  Tried and true for me are breathing practices aimed at balancing the nervous system.   Some of my favorites are alternate nostril breathing, humming, extending exhalations and lions breath (where you stick out your tongue on exhalation).

  A small brain balancing movement practice is to stand up and shake the whole body adding in some tapping for an extra benefit will instantly bring more harmony and equanimity into the body, mind and soul.  Remember to pause after your mini practices and feel your connection to God, to simply feel His presence or offer gratitude or urgent requests.   A small walk in nature is also very grounding and a great time to lay burdens down and to talk to God.  For me the goal of these mini practices is to regulate my nervous system but also to have a small sense of control over my own energy when life seems to be spinning out of control.   What mini practices do you do for yourself when you are feeling out of balance or disconnected from God? 

Another way that we suffer or succumb to the darkness is by partaking in a false sense of separateness, the opposite of harmony.   We listen too attentively to those lower vibrations of fear, judgement, worry and the sense of why me.  The parable of the vine and the branches is much like many of Jesus’s parables in which he used nature to teach his followers and us about union and to point us towards ways that are higher.  This parable reminds us that we are never apart from God except maybe in our thoughts.  Our hearts and souls are always abiding in Him.  Perhaps this is part of the problem of disharmony, we spend far to much time in our minds, entertaining thoughts that are simply not true.  The parable actually starts like the “ I am the true vine, and the father is the vinedresser…Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. “ John 15: 1 and 3.   The true vine whispering words of truth and union.  Can we open our hearts and perhaps quite our busy minds to receive his word?

Fr. Richard Rohr emphasizes this point here in a way that only he can.  We all pull back into ourselves. We pout and complain and resent and fear. That’s what the little self does. The little self, the branch cut off from the vine, can do nothing according to this gospel. So Jesus says, “Remain in me as I remain in you” (John 15:4).  The promise is constant from God’s side. The only question is from our side. Do we choose to live in that union? Every time we do something with respect, with love, with sympathy, with compassion, with caring, with service, we are operating in union. 

When we choose these higher vibrational qualities, I might also add patience and trust, we somehow bypass the mind and move directly into the heart.  I feel the heart is the place where God whispers his truth to us.  Where he abides with us.  We were not granted lives free from suffering and darkness.  I think this is another human story that is wrong.  Life simply isn’t always rainbows and unicorns.  But when we dwell in the darker times,  we still abide in Him and we know that truly God is in the story.