The Chrysalis

 

I can’t specifically recall when I learned about caterpillars morphing into butterflies but I do have images in my mind of a schoolroom with a waterless aquarium and a stick. The stick was literally the sticking point of transformation, but I never truly thought that much about it until I heard the process lyrically described by Heather Plett, author of “The Art of Holding Space”. When the caterpillar enfolds itself into the chrysalis and before it becomes a butterfly, it turns into a gel-like substance. In this state, it can no longer be identified as a caterpillar and it most certainly is not yet a butterfly.

This metaphor describes the in-between space of releasing one identity and becoming the next identity, often called Liminal Space. Heather Plett describes it as such:

“The Liminal Space is the space that lies between the known and the unknown. It is a transitional space of heightened intensity that we experience when we traverse the threshold of the creative unknown.”

As I became aware of liminal space, I couldn’t help but think that this past year of the Covid pandemic has left us all feeling a bit gel-like. What we used to know as “normal” is no longer. Perhaps we took for granted many aspects of our lives like hugging people, seeing smiling faces, travel, and the ease to move about our day uninhibited. With new boundaries being imposed, many people have been heard to say, “I can’t wait until we get back to normal…” Yet, as weeks extended into months, the “end in sight” has felt incomprehensible and elusive. We’ve virtually been in a liminal space of not knowing, and the question this week is how do we handle it and what does it have to do with our yoga practice?

In contemplation, this is actually at the heart of our practice…making peace with what is. Finding a sense of equanimity in the present moment and not wishing so deeply that things could be different. Our practice challenges us to find ease with the present moment…no matter what the moment looks like.

Liminal space is the mud of life offering us an opportunity to evolve beyond our current karmic situation. As John Welwood said, “we have a tendency to spiritually bypass” unresolved issues. Heather Plett describes it as, “trying to rise above the raw and messy side of our humanness before we have fully faced and made peace with it.” And Thich Nhat Hanh said, “No mud, No lotus.” Getting on our mats, feeling into the pain and what blocks us from evolving, the confusions that arise in our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual selves is the art of doing our own work. It teaches us how to get better at being with what is, rather than wishing it were different.

To practice this, we’ve been spending time connecting into being fully present throughout classes this week. Being with what is, means to be with what is happening right now. And how do we do that? We feel into it using our senses.

Try the following to bring yourself into the present moment:

·         Close your eyes and listen. Hear the various sounds that arise and fall away within your environment. Try not to judge the sounds as ones you like or dislike. Simply notice them as they come and go.

·         Smell. Close your eyes and spend a minute noticing all aromas within your current space.

·         Feel. Notice your body’s touchpoints. What parts of your body are touching what…the ground, the chair, another part of your body, the air on exposed skin, or your clothing.

·         Breathe. Challenge yourself to focus on the end of each breath. The end of the inhale where you feel fullness. The end of the exhale where you feel emptiness. What does it feel like inside to have your lungs full or empty?

If you find yourself longing for the way things were or spinning off into the anxiety that lays in the future, bring yourself back to the present moment and try to find the ease that is within, utilizing your senses.

My concluding thought of the week: “Honor the space between no longer and not yet.” (Nancy Levin)