SO LET US GO DEEPER (Pt. 1)

• Today’s questions: What does balance mean to you? And, if you are feeling “out of balance,” is this so important, so important that you are trying to change yourself, circumstances, to be “in balance?” Or, perhaps, is more important to simply notice that while you may feel “out of balance,” you are not trying to change this? And what might that mean?
• Today's suggested practice: Day 20 of this month's practice, to prepare to receive it all.
• My practice: 6:30AM: 45 minutes: Yoga, then a series of mantra meditations, ending with Gayatri meditation…
• My vulnerability practice: Remember all the tenderness of the milonga, the many hearts and desires I felt, and allow my own to shine as my vulnerability, my beauty.

★ My conversation with Kendra Cunov about the “No-Man Diet” program she has been offering for women will be published soon at sacredbodies.ca/podcast (just saying…)

Hans Peter Meyer

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Most of this was written several days ago, when I was still in the grip of my tango adventure, still reeling from what all of that means to me. What followed was another tango-led deep dive, this time into a discussion of “resistance,” hosted by colleagues in the UK and Spain. More tango weaving in and out of life. I know this will be percolating up soon…

And today it did, when a dancer who I enjoy dancing with (she is one of those follows who makes us leads look and feel like we are so much more than we imagine ourselves to be) asked me the question about why I say tango is what it is, the dance for exploring trust, intimacy, the energy we usually conflate into simple “sexuality” (whatever is simple about that)… I’m still ruminating on how to respond. But I know that this woman, she is one of those who calls me deeper. Calls me to do more than do my pretty play with words.

So, let us go. Deeper into life. And, into where this dance may shine a light. It is a tango where I discover myself, and with the woman I dance with, together —and alone— we discover the rules we must make & the rules we must break along the way, on this very particular, individual, yet parallel sacred path to love. A path to who I am, to whom she is. To who we are. Alone. Together. I have this much: I will be the husband to this journey.

My mind can do so many amazing things. Chief among them is that it can make me believe that I am doing better than I really am. Or, more to the point, I can easily allow my mind to convince me that I have a level of mastery in situations where… Well, where that is not the case. Hubris.

It’s one of the ways this dance practice —and especially the practice of dancing socially, in milongas— keeps me true. Honest. And especially when I dance beyond my comfort zone.

Dear reader, bear with me, please, especially if you are not a dancer and this tango-talk seems over the top. I’m sure it is. But… but read on, please. Perhaps you have your own places and practices where a deeper knowing is revealed to you against your will —perhaps your romantic and sexual relationship? Or your own sexuality? Or your relations with your children, parents, colleagues, friends? I have these too. When I stub my toe on myself in any one of these “classrooms of my soul,” the lessons are deep. But tango is one of my favourite teachers because here I am so often caught by surprise. She is a beautiful teacher, but not always pleasant in Her methods.

For example, it is at the core of my dance and my teaching about tango that “masculine presence” is the heart of leadership. Focused. Able to feel into the follow, into how their body yearns to move, to be held, to be entwined with the music, or held apart from it —or any number of ways I can create and hold space for their unfolding. No distractions. Supreme awareness. To be the consciousness of the relationship that deepens over the three or four songs we dance…

But. But I too, like the students I sometimes chide for their distractabilty, I too am seduced by distractions. And especially the distraction of sexual desire that may be one of the most seductive distractions we as masculine-identified men all prey to, on and off the dance floor. Nothing undermines this sacred art of leadership more profoundly than to let myself be tied in the knots of sexual energy that seem to ooze out of every moment of a beautiful tanda (set of three or four songs we dance together). There is a reason these tandas have a reputation as “10-minute love affairs.” A good reason. And it is my practice and discipline as a lead to feel these feelings and allow them to add richness to the dance, without losing a firm hold on my sacred purpose, to hold safe space for Her unravelling…

(More in Part 2)

TODAY’S INSPIRATIONS

🌀…all life’s struggles were unnecessary… Everything was everywhere… Everything was available at all times. Our further destiny -- the future of our soul body’s journey -- is then shaped by whatever response we have to this nano-second of revelation. “Judgment day” in the words of many religions.

The key to this moment, as Nanak the Guru once said, “Be in the meditative awareness of death while you’re still alive.” This enables us to glide through life in the arms of our devotion to this revelation, not fixated on our unnecessary struggles. This perspective activates the soul-brain centers to what’s potential, possible, probable, and readily available in our immediate environment… It’s a sensation of absolute knowing and confidence. (Guru Singh & Guruperkarma Kaur)

🌀The Conscious Warrior makes death an ally, using it to sharpen his present actions, future plans, and current state of being. (John Wineland , Precept 11)

🌀I’m beginning to trust “without expectations.” (My beloved, my Oracle & Siren)

TODAY'S SUGGESTED PRACTICE

Day 27 of this month's practice:

Please read through first, then ...

• Today, set two alarms, one for the early part of your day, one for mid-late afternoon when you may be feeling low energy.
• When the alarm sounds, wherever and however you are, take less than three minutes to do this short practice:
• Stand or sit, with a beautiful and straight spine, feeling your feet or your sit bones heavy and connected to the earth;
• Close your eyes;
• Inhale deeply into your belly, letting it become soft and round;
• Exhale by gently and slowly, much more slowly than your inhale, pressing your navel to your spine;

Repeat three times, letting the front of your body become softer and more open to receive as your shoulders relax and your spine remains firm.

When you’re done, stand for another minute and breathe gently, slowly filling and emptying your belly. Here, as you breathe into your fullness, ask yourself, What does balance mean to you? And, if you are feeling “out of balance,” is this so important, so imporant that you are trying to change yourself, circumstances, to be “in balance?” Or, perhaps, is more important to simply notice that while you may feel “out of balance,” you are not trying to change this? And what might that mean?

Notice if your body-mind feels somehow changed. And whether you notice a change or not, be content with yourself, exactly as you are in this moment.

Continue with your day until the next alarm sounds, and repeat.