Bear Hunts, Black Holes and Beginning Again
Black holes are so dense we can’t see them. Which happens when there is no light. But perhaps if we stand still long enough, we see something in the darkness. New beginnings.
Welcome Home 2024! YogiBeth is back to living post-holiday family, flu, fog, noise, unrested days. All that said - regardless of general sickly stuff - I wasn’t going to miss a singular loud holiday moment with my family. Specifically, the 4- and 7-year-old grands - my heart is bigger just thinking about them... And that included coughing my way deep in the woods for our Annual New Years Family Bear Hunt. An adventure worthy tradition to begin the New Year searching woods for elusive bear - scat, tracks, hidey holes. Despite and in spite of being so damn sick I did not miss this. Alternately, I needed to crawl right into this Bear Hunt black hole and hibernate straight through to the New Year:
Hibernation in deep dark black holes sounds like sleeping in for a long time; missing the beginning of a New Year altogether. But perhaps it is something more than sleep or hiding out. Bears do all kinds of transformative things in hibernation. It is voluntary, they don’t fully sleep and they do all this to conserve energy. Maybe they reflect on their bear-like lives and figure out the things that don’t make sense anymore. It takes quiet, calm dedicated space to figure that stuff out. Sounds like a good plan if you ask me.
Exploding into winter and New Years with such manic energy seems counterintuitive. Why not enter the dark, maybe sleep some and then sit in stillness?
In general, hibernation in a black hole doesn’t fit the aggressive idea that New Years is an out loud time for setting goals and resolutions. All the pressure to change, rocket out of the hole - have ultimate clarity. Is that the only way, really? Exploding into winter and New Years with such manic energy seems counterintuitive. Why not enter the dark, maybe sleep some and then sit in stillness?
Invisible forces can literally suck us into unknown spots every single time we change.
What is a black hole anyhow? It feels like a metaphor for life’s sheer groundlessness and NASA sort of confirmed that. Here is a solid grade 4 definition that made perfect sense:
A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. They are invisible.
And that is really something. Invisible forces can literally suck us into unknown spots every single time we change. Which is every moment. Panic ensues - who doesn’t struggle to get out as soon as possible? Set a goal, proclaim some new place to run after. Wait - what? We have choices. What if we settle in, get sleepy-lost in the darkness for a bit? Allow quiet. Put on an invisibility cloak that takes you to a deeper truth. How about that?
These are not new ideas. Anne Lindbergh wrote Gift from the Sea in the 50’s advising women in particular to embrace change. She says that transitions are massive doors that open to emptiness. Which we seem to only manage by piling on more stuff to do. Anything really to fill calendar hours with all the things. So easy to bypass a Polaroid moment. Lindbergh challenges us to breathe - take in empty open doors. STAND STILL AND FACE IT.
Yes - it is hard. Yoga can help. At least for a few minutes in between the escape to dress up, dinner plans, home renovations, buying a farm, changing the cat litter. Here a Yoga Nidra mindset comes in handy. Right up there with hibernating bears. Yoga Nidra poses are quiet, held for a longer period, intending deep relaxation much like sleep without sleeping. A way to conserve and preserve energy. Creating some space for figuring out the junk that just doesn’t work anymore…. Here we have one of my favorites - child’s pose.
Resting the forehead on a soft support, the mind can settle, thoughts pass without attachment. Create room to look at and perhaps let go of things that don’t make sense anymore. Where you can begin again and again in soundless calm.
Carry on with your hibernation - let me know what you find out!
Om Shanti Love,
YogiBeth
Beth, I am the queen of piling on tasks to avoid facing the black holes in life. I’d almost rather throw myself onto a fire than allow my brain to quiet like this… until I tried the Yoga Nidra pose and I didn’t die. I actually found some peace and felt better! Grounded. Thank you for sharing this. Your words always make sense and calm and your poses are a gift to the Substack-verse!
This is so beautifully logical, liberating and empowering. Sometimes you feel like you need permission to stop and regroup when all you need is a reminder. And then you can awaken refreshed in the new moment, day, year... Hoping you have a beautiful 2024! Thank you for this!