Rediscovering One’s Inner Rhythm And Joy Of Life – The Joie De Vivre

The woman’s life and the seasons therein runs according to the rhythms and cycles in Nature, whether she recognises it or not. One of the cycles is that of the moon. Her days and emotions could wax and wane with the moon. It is now a well-known fact that in earlier times when the sense of community was stronger, and the women in a village or community were close-knit, conducting their daily livelihood and household activities together, they menstruated at the same time. And more often than not this coincided with the moon cycles. In fact, there was a period (:-D pun intended!) of one year when the women’s circle that I am a member of in Tiruvannamalai was meeting very often, sharing our pleasures and pains and learning from each other, at which time I remember our menstrual cycles following each others’ very closely, snapping at one another’s heels.

Women were aware that the rhythms of their lives moved with the rhythms of the sun and the moon and the earth’s revolution, and organised their daily businesses in accordance with this. When were they at their creative best, when did they want to sing and dance, when were the children going to return, how much was the harvest going to be this year, why are the ants moving in a different direction, the maintenance days of the machines at home and work, in how many seasons the coffers need to be replenished, what could be the possible epidemic to hit in the next 6 months, do the girls need their story pillows now, what are the stories to be brought out of their saree knots or pant pockets, times of being firm and times of being a friend… all of these are cycles that keep going up and down and round and round that women have intuitive and intimate knowledge of.

However, we have to be reminded of or remind ourselves of this inherent gift that we have time and again. This is a cycle too. This knowledge is programmed into our very beings even as we are conceived of, in that quick exchange of a glance and glimmer of awareness. We bring this into our mothers’ wombs. We are born with this wisdom flowing in our bodies and beings. And in time, we forget. This is natural. And this is why many of our traditions, rituals, rites of passage were all designed to trigger and invoke the forgotten and unrecognised wisdom that is within us. To remind our bodies and psyches of these cycles as ancient as the solar system, or even further back into other solar systems from the beginning of time, that we are a part of. That is part of us.

-We set our morning routines to the ticking of the clock, rather than our rotation around our centre and the sun’s response.

-We listen to our favourite storyteller on YouTube rather than the sizzling on the stove as we cook.

-The smell of new clothes hanging in the shop that we frequent is closer to us than the smell of sweat on our skin.

-We see the delight in our childrens’ eyes but not the hurts they hide.

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-We relish the taste of a promotion, but dont recognise the subtle flavour of the questions and doubts within.

When this happens in our lives, we lose the inner sense of delight and rhythm. All the joy se

ems to come only when the woman is with her closest friends when she can be herself, or her therapist where she can talk in a safe and non-judgemental space, or at times with her children perhaps, or pursuing a personal passion if she has one. This is then time for a reboot or a rewiring in the brain. There are so many different ways to get back in touch with one’s inner sense of joy and rhythm.

One is lucky and blessed if one already has a passion to call one’s own, that has not been soiled or stained by any of the regressive conditions and causes. We just have to continue practicing the passion with all heart and sincerity for it to lead us to our inner selves. If that has not happened yet, we don’t lose faith. It will, in time. In the meanwhile, we can do other things to help this process.

• If we have a personal faith in God or a Universal or higher force, then that is surely an anchor to hold on to. To arrive at one’s own meaning of this force in one’s life and what does one learn from this anchor. It is necessary for this personal belief to become an active faith that we live and breathe with such that it informs and teaches our actions, rather than remaining a solace and comfort in acute times of distress. For this we will need to build our own rites and rituals around this and infuse them with the meanings that we hold. For instance, one may love to make flower arrangements (Poo Kolams), and do this daily for her favourite deity as a prayerful and meditative activity.
• Another force is that of Nature, the great outdoors. We will have to find ways of accessing Nature and communing with Her. Going for long walks or swimming in the sea, collecting flowers and seeds, gardening, tending to the soil, watching the sky and the stars and the movements of clouds, playing with and taking care of animals, watching birds and listening to bird calls, rock climbing, deep sea diving, trekking, making artefacts or functional things with natural material like clay and mud, building sand castles on the beach….. oh, this list is endless!
• Taking up a physical activity, one in which we get in intimate touch with our bodies. Like Dance, Asana-Pranayama, Pilates, a martial art form like Kalari or Kung Fu. Doing this will get one in close contact with one’s bodily fluids, flexibilities and foibles, which are in tune with one’s rhythms and will slowly and surely take one nearer to them.
• Find and cultivate the friendship and mentorship of elderly women who will have experienced the different seasons and vagaries of Life and discovered their inner rhythms. These women are easy to recognise. They will move with confidence and well… rhythm! They will have many stories to share from their experiences. Beware, they may not necessarily be sweet and patient with you. But some of them may still be interested in whether you have eaten properly. They will have a different sense of the passage of Time – a certain Timelessness!; and their own unique reasoning of life events. Their faces will be lined with their experiences and escapades, and these glow with a secret light that they have found within themselves.

Each of the above will take us to the same end really. That of finding the rhythms and cycles of Nature within oneself. Finding this leads one to rediscover her own sense of inner delight and rhythm. One of my mentors calls this Ramyam – the right measurement of one’s inner vibrations. There is then the inner, native resonance that will twang like a Tambura and attract the resonating sound to itself. The woman will then dance to her own tunes, sing her own music and tap into age-old wisdom with her songs.

Image via Pixabay

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