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| Photo courtesy of Nancy Hall |
By Florian Burfeind
Wabi Sabi is the Japanese worldview that
celebrates functionality and spaciousness and that finds beauty in simplicity
and imperfection. When we feel overwhelmed by a barrage of thoughts, feelings,
and emotions, how can we create space and embrace our imperfections?
Sometimes,
tidying up our home can help us feel better: creating space, putting things in
their right places, or perhaps discarding items we no longer need. We have
accomplished something, and by managing the outer chaos we have created space
within.
When we
feel triggered, it is important to keep our project manageable: “I’m going to
sort through just this one stack of paper,” or “I’m going to go through this
closet for only 15 minutes.” Then step back, and appreciate your accomplishment.
However,
sometimes we cannot rearrange the objects around us. What to do then? Start by
taking a moment to localize the sensations in the body. You may notice racing
thoughts or a tightness in the chest. What else? Oh, a numbness in the feet. Now
you have separated out some sensations. But what’s next:
- Breathe in deeply through the nose, and let the air flow into your lungs, filling up the chest all the way to the gut, even into the toes.
- Imagine compassion streaming into your body with the air, dissolving any unpleasant sensations or aches in the body.
- As you breathe out, release any tension in your body along with feelings of anxiety, fear, or sadness and give it over to the wide space in front of you.
There is
enough space in the world to hold the tension for you. Instead, use the space within
your body for feelings that are helpful, like calmness.
But what
about our thoughts? We can experience having many thoughts at once. And sometimes
they nag us even when part of us recognizes that we don’t need to listen to them.
And then there can be thoughts that overwhelm us or frighten us even when
perhaps it’s not altogether clear what the thought really is. Here too we can
try to create space.
- Localize a thought and imagine putting this thought in a chair or in a corner of the room.
- Look at the thought, acknowledge it.
- Do the same for one or two other thoughts you may have.
- Now put these thoughts on different chairs or in different spots in the room.
- Are any of these thoughts helpful to you? If not, why don’t you ask them to wait in their chairs or even in another room if that feels safer to you, until you are ready to work with them.
If a
thought is no longer useful to you, see if the time feels right to let go of it
altogether, perhaps burying it in the earth. Now return to your mind--does it
feel a little calmer, a little bit more spacious perhaps? If you have an
affirmation, go ahead and say it.
There may
be more inner work to do, but right now, at this moment, you are who you are
even with all your imperfections. And you are good enough.
Florian
Burfeind is a graduate intern at The Awakening Center. They (Florian uses
genderneutral pronouns) are currently in their third year in the Clinical
Mental Health Counseling program at DePaul University. Florian grew up in
Europe and likes seeing things with new eyes. They're passionate about helping
others find and live out their true Selves. In their free time, Florian enjoys
being outside with their dog.
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