Living In Grace

Part 4

The body-mind is the dance of the universe, and the more you dance with the universe, the more joy, vitality, energy, creativity, synchronicity, and harmony you will experience. You can stay in tune with your body by being aware of how you dance with the universe. If you pay attention to the rhythms and cycles of your body-mind, and if you become a little familiar with cosmic rhythms, you'll see that you can synchronize your body's rhythms with the rhythms of the universe. You don't have to be an expert, just pay a little attention to this. Notice how you feel at different times of the day and at different times of the month depending on the lunar cycle. Look at the sky, and observe the cycles of the moon. If you look at a newspaper, check the high tide and low tide. Feel your body and see how it relates to each of the seasons. Understanding these rhythms can really help you, but the following information is all you need to remember.

Between six and ten in the morning and between six and ten in the evening is when your body is hypometabolic, or at its lowest phase of metabolism. Try to spend time in silence around six in the morning and six in the evening. Ideally speaking, it's best to meditate in the early part of this phase, and to exercise in the middle of this phase - especially if you're doing it to lose weight.

Between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon is when metabolic fire is at its highest. This is the time to have your biggest meal, because your body will metabolize the food much better. Between two and six in the afternoon is a good time to be active, to learn new mental skills, or to engage in physical activities. Between two and six in the morning is a good time to dream.
Around six in the evening, and preferably before sunset, is a good time to have dinner. It's best to make dinner a lighter meal, and to have at least a two- to three-hour interval between dinner and sleep. Then try to get to bed by ten or ten-thirty at night, and you'll have ideal sleep and great dreams.

These are very basic suggestions, but once we start to synchronize our rhythms with the cosmic rhythms, the body feels quite different. It feels vital; it doesn't get fatigued. We feel more energy subjectively. We begin to experience that state of consciousness where everything in our life is flowing with ease. Vibrant health is not just the absence of disease; it's a joyfulness that should be inside us all the time. It's a state of positive well-being, which is not only physical but emotional, psychological, and ultimately even spiritual. Technology won't make us healthy. What will make us healthy is to be aligned with the forces of the universe, to feel that our body is part of the body of nature, to commune with nature, to commune with our soul by spending time in silence and solitude.

The Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, summarizes the miracle of life more beautifully than science can explain it. He says, "The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass, and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment."

The oceans and rivers of this biosphere are the lifeblood that circulates in our heart and in our body. The air is the sacred breath of life that gives energy to every cell in our body, so that it may live and breathe and participate in the dance of the cosmos. To have the experience of "the life-throb of ages dancing in our blood this moment" is to have the experience of joy, the experience of connectedness to the cosmos. This is the healing experience; it is the experience of being whole. And to be whole is to live in grace.

by Deepak Chopra