"Make me your friend," Time whispers. "Don't hate me for not filling your day fuller, or so full you can't breathe. Remember I am but the limits you believe exist."
We wander through life following a clock. We are taught to set goals for the future and remember the past. We are not told how to live in the present.
Time is presented to us as a dictator. We are led to believe that we must rush through our life succumbing to its will. The sound of our mother's heartbeat from the womb is replaced by the tick ticking of an inanimate object. Driven by a set number we rush through our life only occasionally rebelling against its chains. We think Time requires us to be lead around in a constant circle.
We practice meditation daily only to run off to the next appointment we managed to squeeze in to yet another day. How often do we purposely bring the non-time of meditation into our work day or weekend plans?
Each of us has our own perspective of Time. We use it to accomplish our living, mark memories or milestones, and allow it to lead us forward.
Time does not exist. It is our buy-in to segment our life that determines its control. If Time doesn't exist then what does that really mean + why would we care?
Our ancestors used Time as a natural rhythm. Sleep + waking were the determining points. The sun came up, they rose. Sun set, they slept. As days lengthened hunting + planting lasted longer. Days shortened hunting became a quick sport and they relied upon what harvest came from the plantings of the longer days. There was not a giant clock nailed to the trees, ticking away to drive their days. They marked their lives from the seasons and rhythms of the sun + moon. The stars portended the future. The moon reminded them of the day just ended ~ the past. Their present was marked by the sun as it moved across the sky.
Now we live here with the aspect of Time glaring down from his mighty perch, barking out measured steps to be completed each day. Our children's arrivals are measured in weeks, the longer calculation, instead of the vagueness of months. There is a celebration for every passage of time. Constantly we are shown the greatness of Time. A languished moment is heralded with criticism and offered up as a treat.
How we got here would be another 10 pages. How we arrived is not as important as how we release this dependency on Time. We can all agree we are in a world running faster and faster. We are totally enmeshed in the barbs of time.
Each of us use some form of meditation. These practices are generally our first introduction to moving out of time. As we leave our meditations we sense the calm space, an altered space, surrounding us and it appears to be drifting away. You experience this same sensation when you are caught up in something enjoyable and not so enjoyable. It is the altered state of full immersion into the Present that lengths or shortens our concept of time. Time truly is an illusion. Playing with that illusion will break down the mental and physical constraints.
Try for 45 days a few of these games and see what transpires. Nothing tricky or 'time-consuming' to this play. Enjoy ~
1.) Rid yourself of all clocks. Yes turn your phone over :)
2.) Each traffic light you approach that is RED state: 'Change, change, change'. Make note each time it changes to green.
3.) Each traffic light you approach that is GREEN state: 'Stay, stay, stay'. Make note of the times it stays green and you pass on through.
4.) Using the appointments you have during a week, pick one each day (even if the only one is getting to + from work) as you head to the appointment say, "Stretch, stretch, stretch'. Make a note when you arrive with time to spare and when you don't.
Each week during the 45 days review your results. Mark down any feelings or reactions recording when one was easy, fun or difficult. Note any resistance. These simple exercises will asset you in learning how to stretch time, fold time, and break down the assertion that Time exists.
Learning to play will help shift your mind & its reality of the need for time and heighten your bodies acceptance of freedom. Time play + shifting = a mental, physical, and spiritual understanding of what is reality.
Traveling on out of time ~
Teri ~ The Soul Traveler