Am I Stuck in The Nothingness?

Meditation Corner is brought to you today by Barbara. Barbara is my friend, neighbor, and Life Coach. Her interests are in healthy living, eating local and organic, and raising her beautiful almost-five-year-old daughter. You can read more from Barbara on her blog - Bija Talks Blog.

Am I Stuck in The Nothingness??

Once upon a time there was only nothingness. That is what I have heard again and again. Yet how can that be so? For could the “nothingness” really have been nothing? How can nothing create all that there is. All of creation came from nothing? There had to be a spark. Therefore, there wasn’t just nothingness in existence. Somewhere we existed.

Now you can argue with me. You can tell me that until 1968 you didn’t exist. You were nothing. Are you so sure of that? Are you sure that until the time you were conceived that you did not exist. Let me explain why I also do not believe that is the case.

In 1868 somewhere you had a great, great Grandfather. Now, tell me if I am wrong so far. Think about it and you will see that this so far is the truth. One point in your great, great Grandfather’s life, he wondered about his children, their children, and their grandchildren. So even before you were conceived, you existed in the mind of your ancestor. I’m also sure that at some point in your lifetime you have wondered about your children, and their children, and even their grandchildren. So these souls exist to you even without having been conceived.

Now I am also sure that there have been times in your life that you’ve made a decision based on what is best for someone other than yourself. Perhaps you took out a loan to purchase land to one-day build a family cabin. Some place that your children’s grandchildren can enjoy one day. Or maybe you are snuggled up on the window seat of your great, great Grandfather’s cabin reading this book. So you know that at some point he made a decision that impacted your existence. You were not even born, and yet this place was created to make you feel loved, happy and secure.

It’s important to understand that every decision that you make has an impact on the next generation. Not just on the here and now. So we have to not only take into consideration the person standing next to us, but the person standing 100 years in the future. You may think that is too heavy of a burden to shoulder. Yet you will find that once you start thinking of this life path, the decision making process comes easily.

In my book I started out with this easy exercise to help you feel more connected to yourself and to others. It’s a great way to find a stronger sense of life. You always have to start with yourself. It’s time to bring your own soul out of the nothingness and into the now.

1. So take a minute, take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Concentrate on the breathing. Put down the book and just breathe. Take notice of how it feels. Do this for about five minutes. Do not answer the phone, and do not let anything distract you. If you start to drift to another thought bring it back to just concentrating on your breathing.

How did that feel? Did you notice how centered you became? At first it was hard to move away from the noises around you. You found the sounds from the refrigerator, the computer, and the cars outside all trying to invade your small concentrated space of being. Yet each time you brought your awareness back to your breathing it became a little bit easier to focus on your inner self rather than the outside confusion. The outside confusion will always be there. As I have discovered through coaching every one of us has moments of outside confusion. The world is not going away any time soon. It is learning how to be a part of the world and the journey, and yet be in control of your effects on the path.

Jon Kabat-Zinn stated, “Bringing awareness to our breathing, we remind ourselves that we are here now.” The here and now… isn’t it nice to spend even just a minute in that time frame. Breathing is being. Being is learning to expand our horizons to the world outside of our vision. Expanding our horizons allows us to think about the bigger picture. When you are sleeping, you continue to breathe. The world continues to move and grow.

So over the next week you have a project. The first thing I would like you all to do in the morning is to take just a few minutes to just lie there and breathe. Just focus on your inhalation. Nothing else exists for those few minutes in time. Now when you move forward to the day, the journey will feel more alive. You will be more connected to your being, and those around you. And at the end of the day do the same before you retire. You’ll find yourself feeling more in tune with your surroundings and more connected to your life, passions, and of course the ones you love.