Practicing Radical Ambiguity and Radical Persistence, Part 2

This is the second part of the post that I wrote some time ago for the now defunct blog for which I was a guest blogger. Again, it was written while I lived in Massachusetts. 

I still think that this pertinent. Please note that this was written before my book was published. And, my daily practices have evolved to other practices than the ones that I wrote about then. That said, I think that they can be useful for anyone who wants to try them. And, as I wrote at the end of this post, I would like to hear about your techniques.

Here it is: 

The question, then, is what are the ways that we can live with radical ambiguity and be able to continue radical persistence? How can we work through the fear, anxiety or stress that keeps us from being able to live with ambiguity and to persevere?

I would like to repeat a technique from my previous blog post on the subject of practicing radical ambiguity and radical persistence. I said in that post:

I have been reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting through the Storm. On page 87 he says:

There are several simple methods for taking care of our strong emotions. One is “belly breathing,” breathing in the abdomen. When we are caught in a strong emotion like fear or anger, our practice is to bring our attention down to the abdomen. To stay on the level of the intellect is not safe. Strong emotions are like a storm, and to stand in the middle of a storm is very dangerous. Yet that’s what most of us do when we get upset; we stay out in the storm of our feelings, and they overwhelm us. Instead, we have to ground ourselves by bringing our attention downward. We focus on our abdomen and practice mindful breathing, just giving all our attention to the rise and fall of the belly.

Bringing our attention downwards can, I think, help us move into that space of being at peace with ambiguity and away from the fear and anxiety that ambiguity can create in us. And, coming into that place of serenity can allow us to continue our practice of radical persistence in moving to a place of healing and living our purpose.”

Thich Nhat Hanh then asks us to notice a tree in a storm and how that tree may sway but does not break. He then asks us to be like a tree when the storm of emotions passes over or through us and to breathe into our trunks, i.e., into our navels. We should follow the rise and fall of our abdomens, breathing in this way for 10 to 15 minutes until the storm has passed. He suggests that we make sure that we do this in a stable position, such as sitting.

Meditation can help us move through the storm of emotions somewhat surprisingly by helping us to face them while at the same time bringing calmness to us. I also find that walking helps me during those times that I am stressed or worried. Another practice could be combining practices. I took a long walk early this morning and made it a walking meditation for at least half the walk. It was interesting concentrating on where I was, the meditation, my breathing, and feeling solidly in my body. I felt very calm afterward.

Naming our emotions helps us to face them and to move through them. Naming them can also help us avoid masking them with depression or another emotional state.

One of the meditation texts that came through to me for Opening the Heart: Meditations on How to Be (the book that a friend and I are working towards self-publishing) is: “Dance your body through life.” I think that putting on music and dancing, twirling, spinning, in other words moving, can help us through those storms and lead us to be able to cope with ambiguity and to persevere. Dancing or some other form of movement such as yoga, Pilates or whatever form of exercise calls to you would be helpful, I think. I went to You Tube before sitting down to write this post. A search popped up yoga videos to help you deal with anxiety, fear and stress. There were videos to help you create fearlessness through yoga.

I think that singing, chanting or toning might be a technique that would be successful for some people; after all we are bundles of energy, with each of us having an electromagnetic field. I believe each of has a unique frequency of our own. By becoming aware of or “in tune” with our frequency we can, I believe, ameliorate the effect of worry and stress, to open ourselves up to peace and trust.

A personal practice of mine has been to say the following during many meditation periods:

I love myself, my work and my life. I love what I, my life and my work are becoming.

I trust in myself. I trust in the process. I trust that I am healing and will be healed. I trust that I have more than enough money and will always have more than enough money.

I act with love, compassion, kindness, and wisdom towards myself and others.

Thank you.

I repeat these statements a number of times—whatever feels “right” for a particular meditation session. Then I reduce it down to I love. I trust. I act. Thank you.

I also say the following when I want to bring more solidity and trust into my life:

Great Mother:

I place myself in your hands and I trust that you are providing me with everything that I need and want at the right time.

I place myself in your hands and I trust that you are providing me with everything that I need and want at the right time.

I place myself in your hands and I trust that you are providing me with everything that I need and want at the right time.

I place myself in your hands and I trust that you are providing me with everything that I need and want at the right time.

I try to repeat this several times during the day when I am feeling a bit rocky and unsure. You can, of course, change it to whatever name that you call the Divine.

Just sitting with nature is a technique that some use to bring peace. I recently heard about what its practitioners call earthing. Earthing is placing your bare feet on the ground and letting yourself become grounded by the earth.

I read this quote this morning on the White Feather Farm blog: “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.” Soren Kierkegaard. It occurred to me when I read this that sometimes just taking the leap with faith, to dare is what is called for to practice radical ambiguity and radical persistence. The challenge is to breathe deeply and trust through the risk.

I have begun to notice a shift in myself through the various practices I have personally done over time. What practices have worked for you? I am interested to know.


Both images are from my book, Opening the Heart: Meditations on How to Be (here). I can help you on your journey through either Channeled Angel Readings or Life Coaching sessions. For more information, click here.