Do you remember the thrill of hanging upside-down as a kid? Maybe from the monkey bars or a branch? And later, in headstands or handstands, you tested your strength and balance, seeing the world from a new vantage?
How about when you spun around and around to make yourself so dizzy you fell to the ground in a swirl of giggles? How we loved losing our axis.
On my daily walks with my daughter and her dog, I wistfully eye those monkey bars. I even put up a yoga silk swing to hang in. Neglected, its orange fabric mocks me to flip myself off rather than tend to dirty laundry.
While hanging upside-down can stretch our spine or stimulate blood flow to the brain, it’s not recommended for more than a few minutes. Spinning is excellent for improving coordination and understanding our body’s center of gravity. It helps with focus and concentration. Whirling dervishes mindfully twirl, receiving elevated spiritual messages, often sharing the state of flow with audiences as they spin.
Still, when the average Jane hangs out in an upside-down world too long, the effects can be disorienting, even nauseating, putting emotions in a spin. For those of us old enough to remember the treacherous metal merry-go-rounds on dusty playgrounds, it was a skill of great courage to jump off once in motion or flip over the monkey bars and onto one’s feet to return to a right-side-up stance. Too many would stay longer in the discomfort than risk being the first to jump or tumble.
From fending off wooly mammoths or hairy trolls, women are hard-wired to protect the nest, even before themselves. Whether a mother to ideas or a brood of offspring, something in our nurturing nature is spidey-fast and feeling outside the web when the world is on an axis too tilted. There are myriad ways the news of the world can spin or skew our perspective.
As a mother/grandmother/spiritual athlete who moves inter- and inner-dimensionally with the gifts I’ve been given, I often share with my clients and circles the importance of spiritual athleticism. It’s more than unplugging from screens. It’s plugging into what’s primal and primarily our resonant energy–daily immersions in nature, grounding with feet on earth, and stretching our vision to a steadying horizon. Listening to birdsong, the pitch of faraway play, and even conversation from neighboring friends revitalizes and strengthens us. Inhaling spring blossoms, mown hay, a fresh breeze, and exhaling with the light through the trees or humming with the bees, allows our breath to connect with the heartbeat of our Earth home, creating a celestial circle and resetting balance.
Moreover, when our leaders—spiritual, political, professional, or club—become the force spinning the not-so-merry-go-round faster and faster, now our ballast is the steadying wisdom within. We link with mama-bear courage and jump. Holding true to our mettle and the rose of our moral compass, we rise steady, giving all for love and peace. Easier yet, if you can jump the waves holding hands with one or a tribe of trusted friends. Find your community. Link hearts and let’s gather on higher ground for good. For all. For always. Forever.
