Author: Ryan Klette

  • 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 This is the crucial piece because it speaks again to the idea that we should rather expect these outdated mindsets to fight for their place.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. 

  • focus on the sun

    focus on the sun

    first focus on the Sun.  What greater resource is there than the feeling of sunlight on the skin.  When you stay there a little while and allow yourself to be present with a simple moment in the sun, you double up the power of the resource. That’s because your nervous systems follows what you give your attention to.

    Taking a moment in the Sun is also another way of saying Resource.  Its amazing how quickly we can forget to do this, neglecting those aspects in our life that lift us up. The sun is also a metaphor that reminds us to focus on something good before we get to the business of being in our day.

    I say business because from one perspective its like that, one day as a holder for many transactions, each one having its affect on our nervous system –  some replenishing and uplifting while others leaving us feeling depleted and less energized.  
    The question is, will we stay with these daily ‘transactions’ and notice how our system is responding as we go.  If we pay more attention, we are far more likely to follow the movements that lead toward balance and calm. 

    The key is simple noticing with kind attention – not needing things to be different so much and instead getting interested or even better curious about how things are. Its that curious mindset in my experience that really fast tracks change.

    How we do this is .. build a habit of staying in the body, bringing your attention into the body more frequently in your day. As you find ourselves being pulled  up to the head again, simply notice and bring your attention back to the body, allowing the sensations to be there as they are. And that really is as simple as it gets – stay with what you might normally push away, little bit at a time.

  • Social problem solving mindset

    Social problem solving mindset

    A few thoughts about the collective moment we are in – We are all part of the problem. Part of the solution is recognize that if you have an ego structure (and lets not downplay the utility in that) then you are going to have a point of view. That perspective is bound in someway to contradict something or someone else in subtle or not so subtle ways. Even if I/you/we didn’t as much as utter the thought, we had it – it originated in someones head.

    That one thinking is far more likely to be part of the solution with the realization that they can never really not be part of the problem or disconnect in any meaningful way. I think this is especially true for the collective/ social /political landscape right now. And there is beauty in that because problems have the potential to give shape to life in extraordinary ways. #problemsolving

  • A simple pause

    A simple pause

    The most important part of my day is a simple pause.  I have a habit of pausing the mornings and I feel it in my day if I miss it. My day is always different when I start out in stillness – not caught up in activity. 
    So what I do is just sit, I sometimes breathe a bit in the beginning. Longer exhales and a few deeper inhales. What has been especially useful are one or two breath-holds. That just means after an inhale holding the breath for 20 seconds or so and then again really concentrating on the feeling and experience of the exhale. Noticing  how the nervous system responds to deliberate focus on the breath.  Then I let the breath go again and just come back to the experience of sitting with myself. Pure and simple as I am, resisting the temptation to change anything.  I just sit and see -a kind of witnessing of myself that gives permission for things to be as they are.

    For me, that’s  when the work starts. I exercise the muscle of allowing and being present to the good, bad and ugly in me. Its a practice and a commitment in a way, to continually meeting myself and make friends with what is stressful and uncomfortable, disease-full inside. In essence, catching up with myself on a regular basis. What I notice when I don’t do this is that I tend to be more in automatic [and unconscious] behaviors that lead to distractions. I get distracted usually because I am avoiding something uncomfortable inside so a I reach out for something will give some relief from experiencing what ever this something inside is. But what always amazes me is the experience of it is not the same as my thinking about it. Experiencing it means an allowing of something to complete even if it doesn’t feel good. The completion is what brings more calm to the nervous system.

    Why make a habit of this?  I feel the rewards are limitless as we can keep discovering more of what we are and take that of that out to life.  The firs pause in the morning is invaluable because it gives a reminder of whats with us and space to let some of it go. The result is less of a load and a connection with stillness as we go about the day. The more connected to life, the more constructive and fulfilling experiences we are likely to have.

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