Author: Ryan Klette

  • Beating our drum in harmony

    Beating our drum in harmony

    Isn’t it amazing how everything can change in a moment. Where anything still and peaceful could feel nowhere near. In a next moment, here I am just as I am. All the chasing and aversion fades back and life stands in its bareness. These aren’t my eyes I say. I never saw  the ordinariness like this before.  I never realised how much a part of all this I am. I see no matter how hard I try, there is simply nothing I can do about it. I belong as all life does.  Life not to be measured,  rather felt as experience. Fluid movement that complement the dance echoed in the stars.

     

    It’s clear to me that right now I need to cultivate trust in life and move with currents that present themselves. Sometimes I don’t want or feel to. I kick and scream and fall into the mental trap of wanting things to be different. Very little movement possible from there because no matter how much I resist, things are as they are. I love the music of Estas Tonne who recently said that we can be like little children beating our drums, wanting it the way we want it.

     

    Not so said life. Not getting our way is part of the fabric of life. I sometimes find myself sulking about how things are. There is so much to beat my drum against – pandemic, work, family, social stresses and on.  But how does it help to be in that state ?  Feels to me like going nowhere quickly so I am better served to acknowledge my resistance for what it is and accept life on its terms.

     

    That means saying yes to the pandemic and the ways social, economic and political life is at the moment. ‘No’ doesn’t change anything and all too often makes things worse.  ‘Yes’ brings the benefit of an easing  in the  nervous  system and an opening to the intelligence of life.  Resistance closes me down where acceptance opens me up to the strength in feeling connected to my life, ancestors, great mystery, this universal intelligence all round. I think I am best served to relax my resistance and not be so hard on myself when I can’t or won’t. Many little steps in the right direction feels like a much better plan with a good dose of patience and forgiveness along the way.

  • In defense of our protectors

    In defense of our protectors

  • Locating self

    Locating self

    When we are standing in the truth of who we are it seems kind of ridiculous that we run these patterns and  yet we do. Whats more is we see they are  not so easy to stop. They don’t respond to force or will very well although there is also no need to get rid of intention. We  need to stay close to our will and keep sharpening our focus but this alone can only take us so far mostly because will is unreliable.  One day we may feel totally inspired to change and do all we can to make that happen while the next we might not want to move a bone in the body. Ok a little extreme but  you get my point, we can’t count  on will.

    We need something else to help us find more creative ways in dealing with unconscious and automatic behaviors that can hold us back in fundamental ways or just make our lives harder than they need to be. I am not suggesting in any way that we need to transcend our humanity, that would be even less productive then autopilot.  There are always going to be growing points, stretches we need to make so we can evolve our lives. As Joseph Campbell said, its our imperfections that make us beautiful. The Gods  he said, are jealous of us for that reason. Its whats gives life juice and also a reservoir of life energy. Not discounting physical health but if we feel depleted and in need of energy, its one of the first things to check – what behaviors am I running that may be draining my energy ? 

    This is why we explore personality, the shape and condition we find ourselves in.  To the earlier point, the key partner for intention is kind attention. Its in the willingness to see ourselves as we are that makes change more possible.  When we pay attention to ourselves, we give space for intuition and an inner movement that opens us to goodness. Not goodness that avoids pain but goodness that moves us through it.

  • the medicine of life

    the medicine of life

    The medicine of life. It’s the medicine of life and not to argue with the unfolding is to take the medicine. To stop and reflect how and why it’s getting to you is the key that unlocks true freedom. Not the kind that lasts forever. Rather we know the likelihood is that we will soon ‘lose’ it again. There is another drama coming, most likely of our own making. We are going to get caught up again but from the vantage point of our evolution, it’s totally ok. More than that, it can actually be very positive if we let it.

    Our evolution not only includes these digresses but more importantly depends on them. All the difference is our mindset and how we respond when we are caught up.

    If we see this ‘falling’ as a natural and important part of our growth then chances are when it happens we’ll be less resistant. Alternatively, if we fall and then fall again into victim hood, there is no movement and no growth.

    Naturally it’s easier said than done but the mindset part isn’t actually that hard. All we have to do is define the mindset that best serves ourselves and those around us and then recognize when we are running anything. This is the crucial piece because it speaks again to the idea that we should rather expect these outdated mindsets to fight for their place. If we are prepared for that we can turn toward the fight with kind attention and encourage ourselves rather than condemn aspects that feel like they are holding us back.

    In reality, we could ask what’s really holding us back more so than the (unproductive) patterns themselves. My sense more than anything is mindset. Upgrade mindset upgrade life not because things get better and patterns fall away. But rather because with the right mindset, we can bring kindness to absolutely anything and that’s where our ground of peace lives.

    If change is what we want then kindness is the fuel and mindset the filter through which we look at our challenges.

    That’s why it’s all medicine ?

  • Slow down until it feels like rest

    Slow down until it feels like rest

    Another way of seeing resilience is self care and maybe this is closer to the essence of whats it means  to be resilient –  to care enough about yourself so as to follow the natural movements that help restore balance and harmony in your life. 

    Natural movements are the ones that connect our egos with the life intelligence inside us, that life force that knows beyond our limited thinking patterns and we know when we’re following it because it feels good. Not in a fleeting or ephemeral way but rather in the ways we start to connect with the ground underneath our feet, with the knowing that regardless of what happens we are held by life (even when we feel just the opposite!).  Life still has us,  the earth still supports us. We are still breathing, heart beating, life still expressing in a myriad of ways all around us. 

    In any moment we can stop and notice just how beautiful this all is, what a miracle it is. Not in the way that we think about but rather in the lived experience of being awake to ourselves. From this place,  at the centre of our own circle, life comes streaming in and when we let it, will move us in all the right ways towards the destiny we long to walk, the life that is only ours to live. 

    The cost is simply being willing to meet the unpleasantness and disease in our systems. To turn towards ourselves, bringing our attention into the body and little bit at a time, to meet what is there as it is.  Not in a way of attaining  some kind of end goal but rather in the willingness to embrace the entire spectrum of human experience which includes both pain and pleasure.

    The good news is the benefit of doing this far outweighs the cost. The result of a consistent practice of coming home to ourselves is that we see that this is what we are really looking for, more so than any material or social attainment. The experience of simply being present and available to life, living the life that calls to us moment by moment. Less stuck in past patterns or fixated with future projections. Rather a gradual surrender to the shape and form that is our life right now.  

    What I notice in my own practice  as well as the people I coach, is that the most important principle is to slow down. Even if its speeding up you want, slowing down will get you there faster.  
    Slow down consistently as you move through your day. Pay attention to how you feel, whats happening in your body and when you  need to, stop from time to time. A pause here and there can make all the difference because you give your system a chance to reset itself. Expect some discomfort in the beginning but know that  you will get better at handling it.  Like Ken Wilber famously says, it can hurt more sometimes but also bothers you less as you practice. That’s the paradox of paying attention, it not like the pain goes away. Its just not what we thought it was and without our resistance to it, ones whole experience changes.