Flow in Chaos Revealed
Not long ago I took myself on a trip to India…it wasn’t my first but this time I really got it!
…Got what? You might ask.
Let me explain…
When you go to India, either you love it or you hate it…that’s what they say!
Either you come back transformed or you jump on the first plane back home…
If you are a Westerner living in Australia like me for example, you are used to some kind of some kind of order, some rules and some cleanliness on the roads. You are told with signs how to get somewhere; you are required to stop at red lights and proceed when it’s green; you know that the road is for cars, trucks, and sometimes bikes. You have a speed limit to respect and everything is covered for you! You know that pedestrians usually walk on pavements; you are pretty certain that you will not see a cow or an elephant blocking your way or a procession with a dead body and somewhere in your mind you think that everything is quite safe because everything is under control.
In India, it’s a different story…
Everything is exposed; life happens under your nose quite literally: everyone and everything is on the road and is part of the road. It seems from the outside that there are three main road rules:
- Keep on moving
- Blow the horn if I need to move (because I am in your way)
- I will blow the horn to let you know I am coming your way
Additionally, you can come across some pretty, hum,…unusual smells!
On Indian roads and streets obstacles can appear at any time; for example, there are sleeping dogs or cows in the middle of the road or a slow moving animal.
Overall, it’s like a game; you just move around the obstacles and everyone moves around you…the thing is you have to keep on moving! It is not rare to come to an almost collision but it actually very rarely happens.
What is interesting is how relaxed everyone is and how relaxed I also became on those roads… and I noticed that most of my travelling friends felt the same.
What seems unbelievable from a western mind is that the system works! There’s no fuss and there’s an underlying feeling of flow in this apparent chaos.
So, what is happening here?
- Experiencing India is a shedding of our western conditioning (if you are open to it)
- If you resist it you will suffer
- Something magical happens when you don’t resist
- When you don’t resist the magic is revealed…that’s maybe why they say: ‘incredible India!’
What is it all about?
Here is the untold secret…
In order to find ease, flow and be totally relaxed in the middle of apparent chaos, something needs to shift in the mind and in the body and something needs to switch on. When we let go of control consciously or unconsciously we move into flow!
Moving into flow means being in the body. More precisely, and in my experience as a female, it means being connected to the element of water in the abdomen, in the womb space and deep in the Self where a great sense of inner peace follows.
What does the womb have to do with flow and water?
The womb space is our second energy centre; maybe you have heard about chakras?
The lower abdomen corresponds to the water element, this space in our physiology corresponds to the space of creation and creativity. It is also the space for pleasure enjoyment, laughter. The main polarity of this energy centre is feminine.
When there is a connection with the water element in the body, there is a sense of flow because there is a need to let go of control and be with what is. At a deeper level, it is understood as surrendering to what is. Perhaps this is the reason why so many of us like spending time by the beach!? It reminds us that part of us that is infinitely relaxed, free and at peace. Isn’t this the feeling you get when you observe people at the beach? There’s a lot of fun, ease, play, connection and enjoyment.
The waters in a global sense invite us to surrender.
Surrendering a misunderstood concept for most of us is often associated with weakness, giving up, or being victimised. In fact, it is quite the opposite!
True surrender is empowering!
Surrender is the recognition that there is a greater force that moves as you.
The etymology of the word itself is very revealing:
The suffix ‘Sur’ refers to something higher.
To ‘render’ refers to the act of giving back or even as the French reflexive verb suggests “se rendre” means to give oneself back which translates into English as “surrender”.
But surrender to what? To Whom? What do you give yourself back to?
You give yourself back to something higher which can be interpreted as giving yourself back to your Inner Source or to God or to the Self.
As suggested in The Art of Surrender: Decomposing Sovereignty at Conflict’s End by Robin Wagner-Pacifici, the word “surrender” bears ‘a clear sense of transformation, yet of transformation connected to a return to origins.’
After all aren’t our origins in the waters of our mother’s womb?
From a scientific view point, it is known that water has played a huge role in the formation of life on Earth.
Being directly connected to our Waters, to our Womb and Surrendering to their energies, somehow seems to re-awaken in us the memory of the energy of the divine.
Of course, within the experience of surrendering, other energy centers are involved particularly the heart center.
It is also important to recognize that what I describe is my personal experience and observations and is not the only way to experience flow in the middle of apparent chaos.
When I reflect on my experience of India, I realize that the Feminine* is so much more present and awake than in our western society.
*The feminine is an energy not a gender : both men and women have feminine and masculine energies or qualities in them.
In our western society, there is too often a resistance to the feminine energy as a result of an epidemic trend of out of balance masculine energy both in men and in women. This results in more tensions in the body, judgments in the mind and overall a greater need to control every aspect of life and hide who we truly are.
So, I wondered…why did I feel more relaxed in India in this apparent chaos?
Simply because I surrendered… in my womb and in my heart. Because I surrendered, the magic got revealed. The magic is an infinite sense of peace and zero need to control what is.
Life simply flows in infinite waves of joy when we trust, know and feel that LOVE is at the core of our nature.
Sur-render is the doorway to bliss.
What are you whiling to surrender to this week?
Namaste
With Love xo
Nandini
