Lessons from the Jungle

I landed in Costa Rica last month to celebrate my birthday and to enjoy one of my favorite places on the planet, located on the Nicoya Peninsula. This super sweet spot, fills my requisite for simplicity and my frequent quest and commitment to unplug regularly. While settling into the pervading rhythm of the jungle/ocean that guides my days there, I quickly discovered that I had forgot to pack any of my gong mallets. Oh my, how would I play my Costa Rican gong babies that I have stashed there? 

There I was, a gong player without the ability to play her instruments. Her gong babies just staring at her waiting to be explored (insert sad gong player, sad gongs). I went about to purchase a gong mallet, in this designated Blue Zone, that ended without success (insert sadder gong player). Easy solution, but complete dead end.

So here is the gem that I pulled from my treasure chest that shifted my perspective and energy. A very much utilized “mantra” that I was gifted on the dance floor! 

A journey back in time for context: I was attending a 5Rhythms weekend dance workshop in my hometown. It was packed and much more crowded than our community was used to. Merely moments after the music began, dancers were literally bumping and crashing into each other and becoming increasingly unhappy with the limited space and numerous body count. Our collective anticipation of a liberating and explorative weekend morphed into frustration and concern as our freedom of movement felt impeded, awkward and sometimes painful. The visiting instructor picked up on the growing discontent and eventually silenced the music.

His offer was simple: “look for the open space.” He danced around us a bit, repeated the phrase several times and ended with “look for the open space on the dance floor and in the dance of life” - ahhhhh, the dance floor as metaphor. On it.

The music resumed and we began to move and flow. The shift in our collective experience was palatable. Dancers edited, swirled into openings and adjusted to closures with playfulness and flexibility. Crashes dissipated and ultimately disappeared as bodies and minds responded with grace on a morphing dance floor. We danced without attachment, we danced with openness in our own being - mind & body, we danced with generosity and malleability, we danced with presence and intention that was freeing and easeful. 

With this mantra turning in my head, I felt uninhibited in each movement as my body and mind adapted to the new relationship with space. I organically moved around occupied areas and twirled away from those closing in. There wasn’t a sense of restriction or limitation, just moments of transformation - temporary residence in openings that came into being, then faded and that rose again. It was like breathing space. A flow in freedom.

That phrase: look for the open space - the new perspective, turned into a mantra that I carry with me, use frequently and share often. Over the years, I have reflected on those words: look for the open space. It has moved off the dance floor into all parts of my life. On the practical side, in the physical sense, I use it in crowded spaces: airports, grocery aisles, festivals, dance floors. It allows my mind and body to move freely and fluently. 

In other realms (emotionally and otherwise) it has provided much the same: Where can I move into the open space within a relationship? Where is the open space in a conversation? A disagreement? Where is the open space in my(your) day? The open space or freedom in your body? In your mind? In your beliefs? Where is the open space in transformation, desired or not? In the best laid plans gone awry? In your listening? In your breath? In the vastness of your heart?...

So, where was the open space with the mallet or lack thereof? Well, I am creative, resourceful and inspired. I began with the possibility I could create my own mallet. I scoured Super Nosara (the local grocery-home store) for possible supplies, gathered a few options and went about crafting a homemade jungle mallet for just a small investment. Alas, I got to play! And I played along the way.

And the days without my hand crafted jungle mallet gave me the opportunity (the open space) for deep listening. The orchestra of the jungle is vibrant, layered and charming. I mimicked the sounds of jungle birds and chatted with the local wildlife; I listened to the wind rustle in the palms, let the sound of the waves engulf my whole being. I woke to the sunrise and absorbed the symphony of jungle crickets, howler monkeys, hummingbirds and creatures I have yet to identify. I also got to spend time with my other instruments and expand my skills of sound. So yes, “look for the open space” as mantra is a keeper, a gem that I have planted in my treasure chest that gifts me a sense of freedom, spontaneous adaptability and the feeling of effortlessness to dance with transformation. I invite us all to twirl, swirl, flow and dance as life’s moments open, shape-shift, close and open again. ~Kristi Lee - Inhale, Exhale

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