Practice 1: The Rhythm of Oneness

Practice 1 ~ The Rhythm of Oneness

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance and order
and rhythm and harmony.”

— Thomas Merton

“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

“Even in the middle of a hurricane, the bottom of the sea is calm. As the storm rages and the winds howl, the deep waters sway in gentle rhythm, a light movement of fish and plant life. Below there is no storm.”

— Wayne Muller

Exercise

Returning to your natural rhythm and moving with the pace of the universal heartbeat restores you to Oneness. Slowing down connects you with the rhythm of Life, with your essential self, and with other people. Holding yourself in this way brings you into the very heart of Oneness.

There’s a close connection between the rhythm of Oneness and the rhythm of your footsteps, your breathing, and your mind. Today, practice finding a pace that connects you with your breath, heart, and mind . . . truly connecting with your natural rhythm and flow. Notice when you feel your movements becoming forced and harried. Within that gentle awareness, take a moment to pause and return to your center. Breathe and rest for a moment in the stillness. Repeat the word ahimsa (meaning nonviolent actions) as a mantra throughout your day as you continue to return again and again to the rhythm of Oneness.

Imagine this practice as a moving meditation, like tai chi, or as a flowing dance, such as ballet. Allow one action to create and flow effortlessly into the next. Every breath, step, and thought is connected. As you engage in this practice, the frenetic pace of your thoughts will become slower and calm down; and your breathing will become fuller and more relaxed. You’ll experience the beauty, vitality, and energy of life. You’ll feel connected to your own deep personal integrity and to the integrity of life that surrounds you. In this place, you’re moving within ahimsa—expressing compassion to yourself and others—and you’re in union with all things. Paradoxically, when you slow your pace to your natural rhythm, your movements become more graceful, powerful, and focused—thus, more is accomplished, created, and received with less effort and energy.

For today, experiment with pace, rhythm, and movement. Discover the Rhythm of Oneness for yourself and share it with others.

Affirmation

I AM moving with the rhythm of my heart, in harmony with the purpose of my Soul, vibrating with all of creation.

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Dialogue Between James Twyman and Anakha Coman

James: There is a natural rhythm to life that gives us a tangible experience of Oneness. We felt it when we were born and when we were young, but as we grew, we realized that the evidence around us painted a very different picture. This evidence led us to believe that we’re in competition with every person and situation we encounter. This is how the ego was born, and we nurtured it because we thought we needed its protection. But in reality we were simply out of rhythm, and Oneness felt like a distant dream. Now that we realize this, we can enter back into the stream and sense that natural rhythm again.

So, Anakha, earlier you were speaking about the Oneness we felt when we were born and when we were small . . . and that we had to actually learn separation. I’d like us to talk about that a bit more. This was a natural condition—something we needed while we were young, wasn’t it?

Anakha: Yes. When we watch children, we see that they are certainly in, and are accepting of, their own rhythm. They’re deeply in touch with their basic needs, whether it’s for food, attention, comfort or rest. They’re also wide open to the flow of their emotions. One minute they may be sad, the next minute mad, and the next, joyfully laughing and playing. Children allow themselves to move at their natural rhythm and pace. They accept what arrives from moment to moment and then allow it to spontaneously flow into something else.

It’s quite a beautiful experience to observe children in that place of Oneness. Yet what happens when we’re young is that we start to interact with the world, our parents, and our primary caregivers; and in that process, our experiences tell us that we’re less than whole . . . that something is wrong with us, we’re not enough, or we’re not doing “it” right. And from those events a core belief of fear is created. We start mistrusting our inner rhythm, our essence, our natural state, our emotions, our truth . . . and we begin trying to fit into something that will guarantee our safety, security, acceptance and well-being.

The journey into Oneness includes identifying and dissolving those limiting beliefs that were created early on. Most often they aren’t even in our conscious awareness. They live just below our awareness in the subconscious; and they have a powerful impact on how we show up in the world, and how we act and relate to others. When we begin slowing our rhythm and discovering our natural pace—our automatic way of moving, speaking, and breathing—we reconnect to the state of Oneness.

James: One of the things I’m feeling right now is the importance of not judging these natural rhythms. We must know that they’re natural and vital to the evolution of our Souls. Allow the state of remembering and forgetting. We came here to forget who we are for a moment so that in remembering Oneness we may appreciate it more deeply.

I think this is really the journey of the Soul. So we don’t want to look at the way that we’ve lived—our ego existence—as wrong or bad because that actually makes it difficult to release or transform it. I think we have to accept and love ourselves exactly as we are. At that point, we’re ready to remember, ready to step out of that state of forgetfulness and think back to why we were born, why we’re here. And then we can activate that knowledge in our lives and in the world.

Anakha: Beautiful . . . yes! It’s a process. The rhythm of Oneness will bring us back into love and tenderness for ourselves and one another. And yes, there’s already enough pain surrounding how we’ve lived within the illusion of separation—we certainly don’t need to add insult to injury. Compassion is absolutely necessary as we allow those beliefs that have manifested as separation in our lives to actually begin to heal and dissolve.