Tending the Inner Life
This morning I was reading from the wise writings of Howard Thurman in his book, Jesus and the Disinherited. He writes, “Again and again he (Jesus) came back to the inner life of the individual. With increasing insight and startling accuracy, he placed his finger on the “inward center” as the crucial arena where the issues would determine the destiny of his people.[1]”
It is the inner life that is most often ignored as it is nebulous, hidden, and murky at best. However, we see it witnessed in part through our moodiness, reactivity, addictions, and anxiety. Tending the inner life requires courage, determination, and devotion. It is much easier to watch Netflix or blame another person for our unhappiness.
How does one tend one’s inner life? Perhaps this is what I have devoted a lot of energy and time to understand and pursue with the work of soul care. It is what I’m deeply curious about. How does one tend this inner life? How can we bring psychological understanding and spiritual practice together in a way which illuminates our interior and also heals our wounds? Perhaps in its simplest form, it comes to these three words over and over again: pause, breathe, listen.
Pause – without the pause, there is no space and space is required for tending. One way of thinking about it is like rototilling the ground, creating air pockets to allow space for growth to occur. Pausing is not valued in our western society as we don’t see an immediate benefit or gain. However, the long-term benefit is profound and there is increasing scientific evidence of the impact on our nervous systems when we bring a rhythm of pause into our lives.
Breathe – to breathe consciously connects us with our body and the present moment. We can get lost in yesterday or tomorrow and forget to be right where we are. The breath of the moment brings us back into the wonder of being in this mystery of a human body. One day we won’t be in the body we are in now – but in this moment we have the gift of life. What does today hold that we can turn towards?
Listen – It is in the pause and the ability to come into the present that we can open ourselves to listen. There is so much listening to do! Listening to our bodies, our thoughts, our hearts. We are also invited to listen underneath all the surface chatter and go deeper to our soul, to listen what is at the core of our essence. It is here, what Howard Thurman calls the “island of peace within one’s soul[2]”, that we also hear the voice of Wisdom, the voice of the Eternal.
I invite you to take 5 minutes now – Pause. Breathe. Listen. Notice the gift that emerges when you do. I trust the beauty and clarity of your soul.
With love,
Cathy
Prayer of Enfolding
“As I enter the stillness of quiet at the close of this day, I surrender once again into the enfolding energy of Love. All that I lived this day, in all places I have moved this day, let it all be held now in Love.”
an excerpt from Love Breathes with Me III
Need resources to help you pause? Check out our on-line programs, music, and books to help you tend your inner life.
[1] Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited
[2] Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart
