A practical insight realised with a mindful practice
When you put your foot in a flowing river, it is never the same water.
Just as each moment arises and passes.
Just as each experience arises and passes.
No moment is or can be the same.
No experience is or can be the same.
This is true for all experiences including pain, fatigue and other symptoms of fibromyalgia.
This is impermanence.
A powerful insight with practical implications for getting better.
Whatever arises, will pass.
No matter how you are feeling, it will come and go.
Such is the nature of life and how it turns up.
You have no control over life turning up, or how it turns up.
It just does.
Easing your suffering depends on such insights.
It’s the same…
You have probably heard it.
You have probably thought it.
You have probably said it.
How are you, someone asks.
The same, is the reply.
It feels that way.
It seems to be that way.
The narrative is, the same.
But the reality…
Nothing is ever the same.
It is hard to see when lost in those thoughts and that version of events.
How do you realise the reality of impermanence?
Mindfulness.
Mindfulness ~ to remember
Mindfulness means to remember to be here now in this moment.
The only real moment.
The future is imagined.
The past has gone.
Where do you spend most of your time?
Are you in the present moment or somewhere else?
Of course you can only look after yourself and your needs if you are present.
If you are somewhere else, you can’t.
The practice of mindfulness helps you be present with what is happening.
You realise the arising and passing of experiences.
Like a flowing river.
We will look at mindfulness in more detail because there is much misunderstanding.
Many people start and then stop because their expectations about mindfulness are misaligned with what it really is.
Or people say it is not for them without knowing how it can help and without any experience.
Like saying, I don’t like fish. Have you tried it? No.
A mindful practice to realise impermanence
Here is a practice you can try.
Sitting comfortably, upright and relaxed.
Close your eyes and take a few slow, easy breaths.
Feel your body in sitting.
Notice the sensations — what you feel.
And the thoughts about the sensations — the commentator, the judge.
Now become aware of the sensations of breathing.
Follow your breath in and out.
When your mind wanders or you get lost in thought, begin again.
Time yourself for a minute or two.
What did you notice?
The overall experience has come, and gone.
A breath came, and went.
A thought came and went.
Perhaps a similar thought came again, and went.
Everything is impermanent.
In zazen, leave your front door and your back door open. Let thoughts come and go. Just don’t serve them tea.
When we realise the everlasting truth of “everything changes” and find our composure in it, we find ourselves in Nirvana.― Shunryu Suzuki
Mindfulness is a practice. A goal-less practice.
Goal-less because if you practice with the purpose of gaining something, you are now no longer present to practice. The benefits will come in their own time as you have no control over outcomes.
You may be tempted to turn away because of this truth. I hope you meet any resistance you may feel with curiosity.
Because resistance blocks progress.
Another way to realise impermanence
Think of a time when you felt an intense emotion.
Where has it gone now?
How to handle life when everything changes
Impermanence brings hope
Things change. You change.
I hope you can now sense this.
It means you can practice, and create the conditions to improve your life in many ways.
This is our work together and the reason for these daily posts.
See you tomorrow.
r.s.
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These are deep dives into the insights and practices that I share and teach with clients in my day to day work.