I've been doing the year long free course on soul retrieval that the Ligmincha Institute has been offering in 2015 https://www.ligminchalearning.com/.
The early parts were about getting to know the elements and how they relate to us and the world around us. I'd found that connecting with the elements within the spaciousness, silence and stillness that the practice teaches to be very powerful. One thing I had particularly noticed was an enhanced sense of smell. I looked on the web to see if the senses had any elemental correspondences. Going by http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_elements/tables_of_correspondences/the_elements_and_their_correspondences.asp the sense of smell seems to be connected with the element of water. In the tibetan tradition taught by the Ligmincha Institute the element of water is equated with home and comfort. A place to rest and feel safe. Since I have always sought out water, either for a swim or a bath, when stressed this came as no surprise.
This month, July, the course is dealing with relationship - to self and others and expanding the practice to include an awareness of the suffering and striving of those we have particularly challenging relationships with. That awareness grows compassion and becomes a powerful way to heal. I had been feeling particularly at odds with myself due to the ill health of a significant other. Yes I know I shouldn't but I had been blaming myself. Surely I could have done more to prevent it, cared more, loved more, prevented more. I guess I'd been peeved at my own helplessness in the situation and that had made me angry with myself. Doing the practice that went with this month's teaching I chose to focus on my relationship with myself as my first relationship to repair. I first used the prescribed breathing and visualization to center myself. Becoming clearer and more open. From there I went into the awareness of stillness, silence and spaciousness and rested in it. I let myself become aware of all I'd been feeling (my relationship with my self), without judging or engaging with it. A warmth washed through me, a releasing of sorts that left me at peace with myself. I had done my best, as we all do our best, within the day to day conditions and context we live in. If I want to support greater healing in those I love then I need a whole and healthy relationship with myself AND them. Knowing we are all doing the best that we can. Letting that understanding and the compassion that flows from it send healing energy towards them and the world that is the context for their own dis-ease.
