When you are at the beginning,
Begin at the beginning.
We are never born in the middle of our life; we are all born babies. It is the same with doing our practice or with teaching a class — the beginning of a session is always the beginning. The beginning is not a warm up; it is locating the doorway to Innerness, the direct route to Center for oneself or, when teaching, for the whole group. Like Harry Potter at the train station, the door is never quite in the same spot. Go to the breath, to relaxation, to simplicity. Never imagine you can skip over the start, hoping to have the juice of the middle or the fruit of the end without the dry crust of the beginning. The seed for juice and fruit are planted in the soil of the start.
Every day of practice, begin at the beginning.
“Beginnings are the place where endings are revealed, so that whoever begins with the Beloved ends with the Beloved. Go there, restless to be there until coming to bask in the Presence of the Divine Eternal, on the carpet of intimacy, the place of reciprocal disclosure, confrontation, companionship, discussion, contemplation, and viewing.”
–Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, 14th century Sufi from first Treatise of Kitab al-Hikam
Thank you for the reminder. I dislike the aridness that beginning a dance mediation always has for me and forget that often I come to that feeling place inside where heart opens and I stand close to the Beloved or at least catch a glimpse of the still waters. And the longer the spaces I leave between practices, the more arid the beginning.
This is so …comforting. I constantly find myself at the beginning of my practice, repeating that which I’ve been taught and I feel almost ‘remedial’ for it. I think, “I am an artist.” Artists are supposed to improve upon the theme. But then I feel so comforted and relaxed, beginning at the beginning of *my* beginning, coming from the place I know best and feel I can work from without effort or thought. After all, artist or no, I am human and I love the beginning…