Stop for a moment.
See what is around you – really see.
Notice how you feel – how does your body, your thoughts, your soul feel.
Pause for a moment – just be.
It’s easy to say – just stop. But it is so difficult to do it in the flood of everyday activities – get up, breakfast, work, come home, eat, rest (preferably something that will make me forget about work, even if it is a job that I love), maybe food, sleep, wake up … Until vacation, holidays, where is this vacation ?!
And by the way what does it mean to stop? What am I supposed to do then?
As a modern society, we are not adapted to stand still. And when something manages to stop us – we usually have no idea what to do.
That is why it is so difficult for us today. We live in extremely fascinating times. The pandemic forces us to stop, slow down, often against our will.
At the same time, it cuts us off from many ‘purifiers’ – such as meetings with people, physical activities, weekend parties, etc.
We are left alone with ourselves and with a multitude of feelings and thoughts we have no way to express and no idea what to do with.
In this civilized world, we very often live with a feeling of an inner void (sometimes without being aware of it). And this is why, among other reasons, we live really fast – we try to fill it, feed it, or maybe at least suppress it. However, this is an emptiness of a soul, and the emptiness of a soul cannot be filled with material things. It cannot be filled with money, work, alcohol or other stimulants, a party, or objects (computer, mixer, smartphone), it cannot be filled with Facebook, likes and sweet cats’ memes. And contrary to all beliefs, it cannot be filled with the presence of another person – whether that person is a partner, friend, colleague, lover, child, or a crowd admiring your talent. (Which, of course, does not mean we don’t need such people in our lives).
The emptiness of the soul can only be fed with ‘spiritual food’ and with one’s presence here and now.
Sometimes it can also be felt as an emptiness of the heart. Anyway – we’re talking about the same thing.
You can compare this void to a child – you are probably familiar with a situation when parents work a lot (often just for the child to have) and forget what is most important for this kid – their presence.
(* Anecdote: Ikea once did a ‘research’ about it before Christmas. A parent would leave his child in an IKEA playground. At one point the child was asked to write a letter to Santa about what he or she would like to get. After writing it, they were asked to write another letter: if they could ask their parents for something, what would it be? All the children said, in one form or another, that they would like their parents to spend more time with them).
Busy parents try to compensate for their absence with various other things – obviously materialistic, such as toys or a telephone. But those things do not fill the child’s sense of emptiness, their need for the parents’ presence, attention, hug, a need to play with them.
Sometimes in this situation, the child becomes unbearable trying any other way to get the parent’s attention. And sometimes it closes and distances.
We are such a parent and such a child in our lives. That soul within us screams out a great emptiness and we try to silence it with material things. But they do not make this void disappear. And yet the only thing that this soul – child needs is nothing more then our presence.
Be with yourself.
Take advantage of this isolation time to get better in touch with yourself, to connect to yourself. Don’t run away from yourself, from your feelings, to all the things that smart and cruel people put under our noses – netflix videos, facebook, instagram, tick tok, free porntube account, a million new and cheap ways to (re)educate. Don’t be there, be here. Immerse yourself in your feelings, and soon you will discover that in there you can find tips on what to do and what your soul needs. Be kind to yourself. Take care of yourself
How to do that?
One of the things that can help you find yourself here and now is nature. Nature has always been helpful to us, always close, just at our fingertips. Being a part of it (and therefore it is part of us) we can learn a lot from it. What can be helpful is being in nature, but also bringing it home. Personally, I recommend various types of calming herbs, such as lavender, chamomile or hops. I also heartily recommend Rape Forca Femina (of course; p). Indians have lived in harmony with nature from the very beginning, so I think that using their methods of connecting with it is a reasonable idea.
And here is a short and beautiful exercise that I personally recommend applying to Rape, (though it’s not necessary, of course).
Find a comfortable position with your back straight (sit on a chair, cross-legged, you can stand). If you sit cross-legged and this position is not comfortable for you (and most likely it will be) sit on some platform: pillow / yoga cubes / books.
Start breathing deeply. Deeply…
Feel how with each inhalation you nourish your entire body, and with each exhalation you get rid of what is unnecessary.
Various intrusive thoughts may appear at first – don’t worry about them. They will calm down over time.
Be in it for a while.
Then redirect your attention to what you are hearing. Hear everything around you. Every single sound. Be with it for a while
And when you hear everything – accept what you hear, what surrounds you.
Then turn your attention to your body. Feel every particle of it, even the smallest. Go deeper with your awareness, feel all parts of the body, from the skin, through the bones, to the insides. Since we are rarely fully aware in our body, there may be some discomfort, something (or everything) may appear crooked or wrong. But that doesn’t matter. Try to observe this without changing your position.
And then – accept your body.
Then bring your attention to your thoughts – let them flow – come and go. Watch them carefully – no judgment. All thoughts. Be with them. It is very likely that there will be less and less thinking until your mind becomes silent. (Though it doesn’t have to be that way, and that’s fine too.) When you feel that this is the moment – accept your thoughts.
Then turn your attention to your emotions – let them, like thoughts, come and go. Let yourself feel them with all of you – no matter what appears. And as before, there will most likely be a time when they will calm down. And when you feel it’s the right time – accept your emotions.
Feel whole. Just be. Feel the wonderful strength of your ordinary and simple presence.
Open your eyes slowly. See what surrounds you – accept what you see. Enjoy that you are. Here and now. Without any judgement.
Listen to yourself and without thinking, without thoughts in your mind, do the thing that you feel doing right now – write something, dance, go for a walk and admire nature.
Be and feel
text: Alice Rose
artwork and photos: Paulina Szuta
The emptiness of the soul can only be fed with ‘spiritual food’ and with one’s presence here and now.
Sometimes it can also be felt as an emptiness of the heart. Anyway – we’re talking about the same thing.
You can compare this void to a child – you are probably familiar with a situation when parents work a lot (often just for the child to have) and forget what is most important for this kid – their presence.
(* Anecdote: Ikea once did a ‘research’ about it before Christmas. A parent would leave his child in an IKEA playground. At one point the child was asked to write a letter to Santa about what he or she would like to get. After writing it, they were asked to write another letter: if they could ask their parents for something, what would it be? All the children said, in one form or another, that they would like their parents to spend more time with them).
Busy parents try to compensate for their absence with various other things – obviously materialistic, such as toys or a telephone. But those things do not fill the child’s sense of emptiness, their need for the parents’ presence, attention, hug, a need to play with them.
Sometimes in this situation, the child becomes unbearable trying any other way to get the parent’s attention. And sometimes it closes and distances.
We are such a parent and such a child in our lives. That soul within us screams out a great emptiness and we try to silence it with material things. But they do not make this void disappear. And yet the only thing that this soul – child needs is nothing more then our presence.
Be with yourself.
Take advantage of this isolation time to get better in touch with yourself, to connect to yourself. Don’t run away from yourself, from your feelings, to all the things that smart and cruel people put under our noses – netflix videos, facebook, instagram, tick tok, free porntube account, a million new and cheap ways to (re)educate. Don’t be there, be here. Immerse yourself in your feelings, and soon you will discover that in there you can find tips on what to do and what your soul needs. Be kind to yourself. Take care of yourself
How to do that?
One of the things that can help you find yourself here and now is nature. Nature has always been helpful to us, always close, just at our fingertips. Being a part of it (and therefore it is part of us) we can learn a lot from it. What can be helpful is being in nature, but also bringing it home. Personally, I recommend various types of calming herbs, such as lavender, chamomile or hops. I also heartily recommend Rape Forca Femina (of course; p). Indians have lived in harmony with nature from the very beginning, so I think that using their methods of connecting with it is a reasonable idea.
And here is a short and beautiful exercise that I personally recommend applying to Rape, (though it’s not necessary, of course).
Find a comfortable position with your back straight (sit on a chair, cross-legged, you can stand). If you sit cross-legged and this position is not comfortable for you (and most likely it will be) sit on some platform: pillow / yoga cubes / books.
Start breathing deeply. Deeply…
Feel how with each inhalation you nourish your entire body, and with each exhalation you get rid of what is unnecessary.
Various intrusive thoughts may appear at first – don’t worry about them. They will calm down over time.
Be in it for a while.
Then redirect your attention to what you are hearing. Hear everything around you. Every single sound. Be with it for a while
And when you hear everything – accept what you hear, what surrounds you.
Then turn your attention to your body. Feel every particle of it, even the smallest. Go deeper with your awareness, feel all parts of the body, from the skin, through the bones, to the insides. Since we are rarely fully aware in our body, there may be some discomfort, something (or everything) may appear crooked or wrong. But that doesn’t matter. Try to observe this without changing your position.
And then – accept your body.
Then bring your attention to your thoughts – let them flow – come and go. Watch them carefully – no judgment. All thoughts. Be with them. It is very likely that there will be less and less thinking until your mind becomes silent. (Though it doesn’t have to be that way, and that’s fine too.) When you feel that this is the moment – accept your thoughts.
Then turn your attention to your emotions – let them, like thoughts, come and go. Let yourself feel them with all of you – no matter what appears. And as before, there will most likely be a time when they will calm down. And when you feel it’s the right time – accept your emotions.
Feel whole. Just be. Feel the wonderful strength of your ordinary and simple presence.
Open your eyes slowly. See what surrounds you – accept what you see. Enjoy that you are. Here and now. Without any judgement.
Listen to yourself and without thinking, without thoughts in your mind, do the thing that you feel doing right now – write something, dance, go for a walk and admire nature.
Be and feel
text: Alice Rose
artwork and photos: Paulina Szuta