I’ve been meaning to write about this movement towards stillness that my work has recently taken and, particularly, about my experience during a recent session in this Stillness Project. The session first.
There was very little initial check-in other than the most important points such “is there anything I need to know?” and then I sat down cross-legged and the client lay down resting their head on my hands. And it could be said that the session both started and ended right there as between beginning and end we find story and action where here there was none.
There was no story, no action, and no intention either.
And in this goal-lessness there arose a strong connection to my heart. Without looking or asking or searching I noticed the presence of Heart in and around me. I would venture to say that the lack of looking and asking and seeking allowed me to notice the presence of Heart that was there in the deeper fabric of experience.
From stillness arises heart.
Carl Jung visited the Indians of New Mexico and met with Ochwiay Biano (Mountain Lake), a chief of the Taos pueblos. He related this interaction with the chief:
“See,” Ochwiay Biano said, “how cruel the whites look. Their lips are thin, their noses sharp, their faces furrowed and distorted by folds. Their eyes have a staring expression; they are always seeking something. What are they seeking? The whites always want something; they are always uneasy and restless. We do not know what they want. We do not understand them. We think that they are mad.”
I asked him why he thought the whites were all mad.
“They say that they think with their heads,” he replied.
“Why of course. What do you think with?” I asked him in surprise.
“We think here,” he said, indicating his heart.
May we learn to be without seeking and thus allow for our heart to be our guide.
