Rhythm is Everywhere

Introducing a new, shorter post format for bite-sized doses of wisdom

Hi everyone. This is the first in a new type of post that I’m trialling at The Wise Body. So far I’ve tended to publish long essays on topics that I feel people (including myself) are struggling with, and where I have something to offer. Such essays are deeply fulfilling but also quite time-consuming to write and read, so I thought I’d supplement them with shorter, bite-size ideas and advice in-between.

I’m hoping shorter posts will be both easier to digest—more like little reminders or course-corrections than full-blown teaching—as well as easier to share with friends, since one of my goals for this substack is to get the word out more broadly. Let me know in the comments how you like this new format, and please hit the ♡ (the like button) if you’re on board.

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1 · the rhythm of a living body

There are four phases to each breath you take: inhale, pause, exhale, pause. Take a moment now and recognize this pattern in your own breathing. Inhale, pause, exhale, pause. Sometimes that’s all you need to make a shift—awareness and recognition of the rhythmic pattern that gives you life.

Each phase of breath has its own character, brings its own gifts.

• Inhale, we receive life.

• Pause, we sustain it.

• Exhale, we release ourselves to life.

• Pause, we rest.

→ Which phase of breath feels most prominent to you right now? Where is there a natural sense of ease, the place you’re drawn to be in? Let yourself go there, alchemizing, restoring, liberating…

→ Then, is there a phase that you’re skipping over, denying, or resisting? Can you soften into it, and allow it to happen on its own, without interference or amplification?

This is technically a form of breath ‘assessment’ (and a spontaneous self-correction) that I do with clients or in group classes. I also see it as an exploration, a gateway to learning about my preferences and overall pattern in that moment. Am I in receiving mode, sustaining mode, giving mode, or resting mode? Is my energy rising, maintaining, falling or resting? Each breath, each moment and each person is different, sometimes surprisingly so.

The wave-like motion of breath replicates everywhere you look, because it’s the fundamental pattern of life. Inside you, it is present in the beat of your heart, the wave frequencies of your brain, the tension-release of your muscles, the flow of fluid into and out of cells and tissues. Outside you, it is visible in the rise and fall of the sun, the wax and wane of the moon, the bloom and decay of flowers, the seasonal patterns of the planet, and the life cycle of all beings.

Opening and closing, rising and falling, growing and shrinking… This is spanda, the basic pulsation of everything alive, from the smallest cell to the universe itself. And you are part of it, whether you know it or not.

inflow and outflow

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2 · the rhythm of change

Two ways to tune into the ever-present rhythm of change, courtesy of Daoist philosophy:

☯️ the yang way: bright, additive, growing, more

Yang change is when something new comes into life, whether by choice or by accident. It is the birth and growth phase of the cycle of life, the bright side of things that we are familiar with and naturally drawn to. It’s easy to track the appearance of novelty, because our attention is instrinsically pulled towards it. Whatever shows up in your life—wanted or unwanted—is a manifestation of the yang half of the cycle of change.

As yang and yin are interconnected, the yang way also provides support for the yin of loss (described later). To put it simply, it’s easier to welcome something new, rather than—or before—releasing something old.

A mundane but real example: I’m trying to drink less coffee. This way suggests that I prioritise finding a suitable replacement for, or even addition to, my drinks repertoire, before trying to phase out my daily cup of coffee. Why? Because if I just try to cut it out with no alternative, I am stepping into a void, an empty, unknown space, every time I would usually be reaching for my coffee. This micro-dose of chaos is hard to deal with. It can be intimidating, and is more likely to lead to a relapse, or a regression to the previous, familiar pattern and options.

Instead, I can offer myself a few alternatives when I start to feel that desire: a cup of tea, a cold shower, a nap or meditation practice, a walk outside, a snuggle with my cat etc. Each of these meets a different facet of the need that the coffee was previously fulfilling in me (sugar high, energy rush, warmth, support, distraction, new perspective, altered state…) Progress report: so far, so good—my coffee consumption is down about 50% in the past month.

Whichever scale you do this on, having a direction and clarity of focus on something new allows you to let go of the old much more easily. It’s a way that you consciously redirect your mental energy and assist in your own transformation.

→ Where can you see yang change playing out in your life? Where could you use a little more clarity and focused direction?

☯️ the yin way: dark, subtractive, losing, less

Yin is about releasing, letting go, cutting away—and in doing so, restoring the proper balance to life. It is a hardcore approach that embraces the void left behind after a loss. Yin takes us into the depth of winter, the darkest part of night, the center of our heartbreak. We all have to face it sometimes, because that emptiness is the space out of which something truly fresh grows. Ultimately, yin supports yang, and yang leads to yin.

It is difficult, but most of us don’t spend enough time in the dark, in-between space of not-knowing. Instead we substitute, we distract, we avoid… This is the yang way, which tries to keep the momentum of the existing energy going while reorienting it in a new direction. The yin way requires a surrender into the discomfort of not knowing what’s coming, not having a neat and clear option ready to take over. The energy of the previous form has to dissolve into stillness before being born in a new form, or taking a new direction. Yin asks us to embrace the emptiness of loss fully, and trust that it will lead to the growth of something new.

The yin way is often the one that happens to us without warning, or the one we feel stuck in with no way out. Jarring and unfamiliar, it’s like being told to start at the end. Disorientation, confusion and chaos are hallmarks of yin territory, and a natural part of the cycle of life. The question is, how can you best accept and support yourself through this phase of the cycle?

Change is rhythmic in nature, and tuning into which part of the rhythm you’re in can reorient you and encourage you onward. Remember that both these ways, yin and yang, are valid. I would say: choose the yang way when you can, and then accept that in certain circumstances, the yin way is all you have.

PS. A song that might help on the yin way:

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3 · the rhythm of life

In our lives, rhythm is everything. The very first rhythmic expression that is imprinted in every person is the heartbeat of one’s mother. This rhythm has probably shaped our consciousness.

There are sixty rhythmic clicks in one minute, sixty minutes in one hour, and twenty-four hours in one day. However, everyone has a different sense and interpretation of what the rhythm of life is. For the same person, it changes so many times even during one day. When we are busy, time flies, and it appears completely different when less is happening.

In our lives, the sense of rhythm is manifested through our actions. There is a fast rhythm for action and a slow one for rest. We are masters of dictating those rhythms, and everyone has his own perception of what the right rhythm of life is. However, there are some rhythms that we share in common, and they are called internal periodicity. Molecular, cardiovascular, respiratory and brain patterns are examples of internal rhythms. These rhythms set our activities and vice versa—our activities set our internal rhythms.

In music, rhythm designates the movement of musical composition in time. This element of music is most closely related to body movement and physical action and is called the heartbeat of music. Actually playing music consists of coordinated, rhythmic movements of a musician that are subsequently transmitted to a musical instrument and then to the listener.

One of the most highly researched phenomena in the field of rhythmic entrainment is the natural interconnection between the external rhythms and the body's motor skills. Using external rhythms mindfully could alter major body pulses, allowing us to be in an optimal state for specific activities. Whether sleep, emotional release, or high mental productivity is the goal, rhythmic entrainment is a way to accelerate or to slow down. If one feels out of sync, one can bring oneself back to the center with rhythm. 

—Guy Yair Beider (source, emphasis my own, and an interview where he explains this more)

→ What’s your current rhythm? Can you harmonize with it, or do you want to move to a new rhythm?

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