Change Your Habits, Change Your Life
"What is the barometer you use to measure how you are feeling today?"
This was the first question Alan Questel asked us yesterday as we were lying in ATM.
Countless other times I've been asked, "How do you feel today?” or, "How is your day going?” But I don't think I've ever stopped to think, "How do I measure how I’m feeling?"
In essence, I think what Allan really was asking is, "What do you look at within yourself to identify how you are feeling?"
As I lay there and pondered the question, I started to realize that the only way I knew how to measure my feeling was to identify it, or to compare it with something that was already familiar. In other words, I was evaluating my feeling based on what I already knew. For example, I thought to myself, "I feel good.” Ok. But based on what? Compared to what?
My default state is to overthink everything and to try and control my surroundings. But at that moment, as I was laying there, I sensed something happening: a letting-go of judgement; a departure from my overly critical self into a more serene flow of thinking. This sudden absence of worry ushered me into a state of "good feeling."
So: Is it based on the way that I’m thinking that I measure the goodness of my day? Or is it the level of serenity that my whole body is feeling? Or is it both.
Feeling the whole self is the entire aim of our movement practice. This whole episode has taught me that I can measure my feelings, not just from the singular perspective that I habitually perceive, but based on the complexity and richness of my whole self.
I am much more than any one feeling that comes to mind.
