This is the third part in a four part series on Entering Into Divine Flow, the Loving, Creative Spirit-Energy of Existence. If you missed the previous posts, click here for Part I on Adaptability and here for Part II about The Divine Feminine.
Part III: Attuning to Divine Flow
How did it go last week?
What was it like to unburden yourself, even just a little bit?
Was it awkward? Strange? Lovely? Weird? Revealing? Blissful?
Whatever it was, were you able to be kinda okay with it? Cultivating “okayness” is part of the flow; and so is attunement.
Attuning the Senses
After wrapping our minds around being allowed to adapt our practices, and then experimenting with different names for Divinity and laying down some burdens, we’re ready to practice Attuning to Divine Flow.
Attuning to Divine Flow means becoming aware of Divine Movement, or, how Divinity flows through you and around you, and then being receptive to that movement.
For me, attuning to Divine Flow requires presence and the ability to pay attention, to stretch my awareness, and to be tender and playful. Remembering that Divine Flow is relational, I put forth effort to engage and notice, and then release effort and allow. In other words, I acknowledge Divine Presence by being present to whatever is happening in and around me, by saying hello in whatever way feels right, and then offering my gratitude or my burdens or both. When something is heavy on my heart and mind, and I’m trying to plan for the future or make big decisions about my career or family, I often ask to be swept up, surrounded, or swaddled: Ah, I am thankful for all the things. And I need swept up in your divine flow. Sweep me up and swaddle me. Then I wait.
In these instances, sometimes I wait so long, continuing to go about my everyday life, that I forget I’ve asked to be in the flow until a curious occurrence or opportunity jog my memory. And then I think, Huh, that’s interesting. It’s as if letting go creates the space necessary for connection, coming together, and alignment. Some people might use the phrase “let go and let God,” and refer to this as “allowing God’s will to be done in your life.”
Other types of difficulties are more immediate. When I’m approaching a specific, challenging situation, or a particular situation I don’t have answers for but need to try anyway, I’ll offer words like these: May your divine flow be with me. Or, Lord, let your divine flow be present in and around me. And then I move forward with confidence that I’ll get some kind of direction. I keep myself awake and alert to new thoughts, ideas, and actions. I practice being receptive to these things, which involves slowing down, pausing, and waiting – even and especially when I’m in conversation with another person.
Being present and attuned means I notice and am aware of all the information coming in from my outer environment through my five senses, as well as information coming to me internally as I scan my inner environment: the quality of my mind & thoughts, my heart and breath rate, my emotions, and the wide variety of body sensations that tell me how my biological systems are doing (interoception), where my body is in space (proprioception), and how safe I feel (neuroception).
Then I wait and allow. “Allowing” in this instance means that instead of filling in gaps with extra words, I just wait. Instead of trying to control, change, or fix, I just “be with.” This isn’t always easy, but it isn’t always difficult either. In this waiting I keep on noticing myself, but I’m also aware of the other person or people. I’m paying attention to their words, facial expressions, body language, and energy.
“There’s a tenderness in slowing down“
There’s a tenderness in slowing down and in waiting. It’s in direct opposition to the pervading sense of time urgency in our daily lives and the driving sense that we need to do everything as quickly as possible. Slowing down and waiting is an offering of space and time, not only to myself, but also to the other person.
The playfulness comes in when I get a silly idea, or an idea that seems out of character for me and decide to go for it. Sometimes when working with young students as a resilience coach, I get stuck, really at a loss for what to do or say next. In these moments I’ve practiced being aware enough to ask, Come on divine flow…. Then wait, allow, and receive ideas like, play a game, don’t talk, create something together, be silent, sing, do a little science experiment, try puppets. It’s a letting go of seriousness. Then movement happens, words flow, ideas come, suggestions are offered, and I’m out of stuck-ness. I’m in flow.
Attuning the Heart
Other times, attuning to Divine Flow is a shift of my energetic heart – my unwounded heart. There is sometimes a warmth in the center of my chest when I concentrate on creating connection, on loving and being loved, and stepping into Divine Flow. When people and life and circumstances are impossibly complicated, allowing my mind to be quiet, moving the soft light of my attention to my heart brings me into a place where words are unnecessary.
Then there’s just the felt sense of warmth. I don’t offer or ask anything with words, but my heart-energy sings loudly. From my heart’s core connection to the unstruck sound, the Loving, Uncreated, Creative-Spirit-Energy of Existence responds with its own movement inside me. It’s like a pull and a longing to be in connection with Divine Flow and others, and to move through the world as kindness.
When both the senses and the heart are attuned in this way, I feel an ease and an acceptance. So that even if the outcomes are not what I had wished or hoped for, I can be okay with sensations of disappointment swaddled, wrapped up, and comforted in Divine Flowing Presence.
To Practice & Experience
- Choose a day to practice attuning your senses.
Set an intention to slow down and to notice how it feels to be alive, how it feels to be you. Take time to look deeply, listen fully, smell thoroughly, taste completely. Experience what it feels like to be connected and present to what is. - Choose a day to practice attuning your heart.
Say hello to Divinity. Set an intention to be present to Presence. Shift your heart-energy toward loving-kindness & connection and be open to new thoughts, perspective, and ideas. - Choose a day to practice attuning to Divine Flow.
Set an intention to notice Divine Movement & how Divinity flows through you, in you, and around you. Notice sensation. How does it feel to be alive, to be you, and to be connected to the Loving, Creative, Spirit-Energy of the Universe?
Generous Wisdom | Spacious Heart 