Settling v. Slipping into Patterns
Nurturing a new habit or slipping back into the old?
What do you see in the photo?
Can you see a pattern in the stairs?
Do you see a staircase going up?
Or a staircase going down?
While both settling and slipping have to do with a form of movement, one appears to be movement in the form of purposeful intention, and the other a more accidental or unintentional motion.
Let’s explore settling into patterns and slipping into patterns, and what each may mean for you!
Patterns, Seen and Unseen
We’ve worked with patterns in the past (here and here).
We know that patterns can be seen on fabrics, in the migration of birds, and the seasons. We can see patterns in human form through our rituals, routines, and habits.
In architecture and nature, patterns are critical for safety and life existence. In all our humanness, patterns can be good and not so good (or bad!), healthy or unhealthy.
Consider…
Patterns of nature (ocean ebb and flow, moon and her phases, seasons, equinoxes, solstices)
Patterns of holding (the body…slouched, stiff, upright, graceful, open)
Patterns of interaction (with self and the outside world…shy, reclusive, avoidant, connected, giving)
Sometimes, through the noise of the world or our chosen pattern of “busyness,” we turn off the ability to see the patterns. Our choices and decisions, via habit, can either get us to where we want to go or they enable us to stay stuck, slipping into all sorts of unproductive, unhealthy situations.
For example…
The mental pattern of rumination, primarily unseen, hidden under the surface of our human mind, can form and be maintained by thought and inaction. It is through the expression of the face (patterns of frowning and furrowed brows) and how one holds their body (tight, stiff), that the pattern of rumination can be seen by the outside world, and to ourselves if we have a look in the mirror.
Likewise, the mental pattern of joy, or gratitude can be unseen, under the surface, and seen through one’s treatment of self and others…bright eyes, bright outlook, smiling wide, giving, hopeful.
You may take a moment to compare the energy of rumination versus joy…take the time to sense what each of these pattern states of emotion feel like inside the body and to the outside world…the energetic vibration is very different.
Seen and unseen…patterns have the power to propel us forward or backward.
Settling or Slipping
What associations first come to mind when you think of settle or slip?
Settle
content, contentment
quiet
comfort, nestle in
loving embrace
warm fireplace
to establish in the New World
a choice or decision
Slip
fall, falling
to the ground
misstep
blunder
twisted ankle or knee
a sheer nightgown
an accident or mistake
Settling into a new habit or pattern is intentional and hard. Slipping into an old habit or pattern can be accidental and easy.
Whether we intentionally settle into a habit or mistakenly slip into a habit…they both share the quality of discomfort.
It can be uncomfortable to create and maintain a new habit.
It’s also uncomfortable to slip back into old habits that we know hold us back or keep us stuck and inactive…immobile.
Moving with Intention
Moving is a pattern of action, whether done with the body or mind.
Breathing ~ a pattern of inhaling and exhaling
Walking ~ a pattern of moving with the right side then the left
Worrying and Hoping ~ patterns of energetic shifts and cycles of thought
We may move our physical homes from one state or neighborhood to another. We may shift our mental state from one of concern or worry to contentment or peace.
Being a student and teacher of yoga, I am aware of the need to create safe, intentional movements…in body and mind…and am always looking for new ways to express movement. Maybe that’s one reason I’m so drawn to ballet…an art form in and of the body, where all movement originates from patterns made with the body.
The ability to work with the system of yoga as a foundation for living - breathing, moving, thinking - and as an all encompassing, supportive life-tool for mind, body, and spirit, is a beautiful, priceless God-given gift of grace.
Having an intention is one way I pull it all together.
An intention like “I am calm” helps when I slip into my mental pattern of anxiety, especially at bedtime. “I am calm” is the intention I’ll breathe with in order to settle into my other mental pattern of peace.
Learning how to work with intention has been just one of the blessings of yoga in my life. Yoga has helped me transform all sorts of pattern slips into new, healthy pattern choices, including settling into silence in order to understand what I’m really feeling…emotionally and physically (i.e.: how my joints and muscles are feeling and when I need to soften tension).
in the silent spaces of your body
yoga teaches you to listen
Your Patterns for Creating a Settled Life
What patterns (rituals or habits) do you currently have in place that feel nurturing and sustainable, enhancing your settled, intentional life?
What patterns do you slip into…the ones that don’t feel good or are no longer desired?
What is your breathing pattern…when settled into stillness…when faced with stress or overwhelm? (You might look for an expansion in the heart center or a tightness in the chest.)
What is your pattern of holding your body…when settled into stillness…when faced with stress or overwhelm? (You might look for softness in a still state or tension in a stressed state.)
What new patterns excited you at the beginning of the year…the ones you were prepared to adopt and settle into as the New Year began? What progress have you made in settling into the new pattern(s)? Have there been any slips, either away from the new or into the old?
How can you open your eyes to see all the patterns that surround you everyday, in all types of environments?
Can you settle into a daily pattern of silence and stillness in order to seek, pray, contemplate, meditate, listen? How might unhealthy, unwanted patterns be transformed into new, healthy, sustainable patterns that give you more hope, energy, peace, love if you settled into the silence and stillness?
Final thoughts…
If I slip into bad habits or out of good ones…with the assistance of yoga (connection through movement…to breath, body, mind) and God (connection through meditation and prayer…to the Divine), I am able to settle back into the patterns that serve my family, community, and myself in a healthy, peaceful, loving manner.
Join me Friday on the Moving into Spirit Podcast when we settle into a practice on silence and stillness!
Until then…sending you much love, always!
xoxo Michelle
