how to be your own lifeguard

Last week in a class, a brilliant new student perfectly expressed our collective "problem:"
 

"I don't know how to rescue myself." 

He is not alone, of course, as all the anxiety and depression statistics attest.  Even if we aren't part of those statistics, we know exactly what he means.

The simple answer is: "listen."  And by listen, I do not mean to that salvo of crazy thoughts marching loudly through our days.  I mean to listen to the wisdom of our souls, which has never left us for a minute.  It remains quietly there, beneath the din.

Wherever you are, stop and listen for three minutes.  Try it now.  ("Ha, I'm too busy, I'll do it later."  Maybe "later" is the problem!)   There might be birdsong, or the hum of your refrigerator.  It does not matter.   Just get quiet, and begin to rescue yourself.

Rumi said, "There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the earth," but they all begin with some form of getting beyond the noisy ego, the false you, the Voices.  And it's why I'll be able to teach classes til I die!  (Recently, for example, I taught the not-at-all-famous-but-surprisingly-helpful Baby Left Toe Meditation.)

In your day, try to deeply listen.  In conversations, BE in the space with the person in front of you (rather than, say, planning your dinner, or what you will say next).  Drive without a podcast in your ear, and pay attention to your thoughts.  Watch them like clouds drifting by, and let them go.  Listen to a song intentionally, while doing nothing else.

Every moment holds the potential for rescue. Every single one.