May you live like the lotus at ease in muddy water

It is going to be weeks and for some of us months before we are out of this lockdown. Some of us are enjoying it, while others are feeling frustrated, bitter, angry, depressed. One of the key triggers is the unknown -- not knowing when this will all end. The feeling that things are out of our hands. 

Even for those who are enjoying themselves at the beginning of the lockdown, gaming, Netflixing, and so on, it will get to a point of saturation. This is the innate human "mechanism", we are built this way, basically for survival. To desire for things, and when we attain them and get too much of them, we feel urgh! Just eat your most indulgent foods/drinks all day and night, you know what I mean. So eventually all that is the most pleasurable gives the least satisfaction, and we are on to the next thing. 

It seems as if LIFE, in general, is being magnified and making the hidden, the unaware, much more obvious. 

This situation we are all in, makes us realise do we really have any control? I'm talking about real control.

Pre-pandemic, we never really had control, we thought we did, it was an illusion that we all bought into because we could plan, strategize and implement, but the truth is we do not have any guarantee of the end results. But it definitely felt safe and it gave us an illusion of control. 

Pandemic and lockdown meant we cannot make any plans. No long term or short term plans. We can only come up with moment by moment plans, we no longer have control over timelines, because who knows when it will all end! 

Our immediate reality and vision are murky. It feels so muddy.

This situation is forcing us to live on the edge, making only moment by moment decisions. Now, doesn't all this sound familiar? We have all read books,/articles, watched videos, listened to podcasts on how to live moment by moment, being in the NOW to attain inner peace. isn't now the ideal time for us to put what we have read into practice? 

It is as if we are called to live like monks, sages, to live moment by moment and allow peace and surrender to be the theme of the season.

In truth, what else can we do? There's no place to go, nowhere to run off to, the 1001 fun distractions we have are beginning to feel boring and what is left is ourselves. The me, myself and I are the only ones left, it is just us and our thoughts. (Read my last blog entry about our relationship with self )

Here are some tips on how to attain peace in this chaos, let's get back to basics:

• Be aware of your in-breath and out-breath
• As you focus on your breathing, imagine that you are filling your chest area with energies of peace, as if you're pouring it in
• As you breathe out, consciously breathe away all the irritants (people/things/situations)

{If you would like to learn more on how to do this, join me in my free online class happening on 24 April 8.30 am Singapore time, details of times of other parts of the world are also in the link here >>> https://www.shamalatan.info/mindfulness }

Carve our space and time to get back to basics - your breath is the most powerful tool in attaining peace.

You are called like never before to live like the lotus at ease in muddy water. 

©2020 Shamala Tan

Let me know how I can assist you if you have any questions [email protected]

Shamala Tan is an author, spiritual entrepreneur and healer. Her work focuses on transforming the lives of others on the spiritual, emotional, mental and earthly level.

One of her success stories as an author is to being featured alongside New York’s bestsellers Sonia Choquette, Robert Allen, Arielle Ford, Marci Shimoff as well as Christine Kloser in the book Pebbles In The Pond.

Shamala’s clients include small business owners, holistic practitioners as well as those seeking to find more significant meaning and value in life. Shamala offers laser coaching to her clients on a one-to-one basis or in a group environment, offline as well as online.