We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it liveable.  - Lao Tzu

Inner Space

Our inner space is filled with many things. We develop  inner space awareness by moving our attention from the physical to the subtle. This allows us to access a huge amount of wisdom that lives inside. Our inner space is more than physical, it is energetic, mental, emotional, psychic, intuitive, mysterious, and perceptive. It is the space of nothingness in which everything is held.

Signs from the Inside

The inner space is in a constant dance of change. It is here that we adjust to experiences coming from both this inner realm and the outer world. We should have as much awareness of this inner space as we do of the outer space. Sadly most of our day to day awareness is focused outside. Hence we are unable to respond to the signs and signals coming from the inside. As a result most of us live most of our life in a very irresponsible manner. When we first begin to look inside, we are often overwhelmed by how foreign this space is to us.

Endless Frontier

As a conscious dancer, the inner space provides us with an endless frontier to explore and discover. In the beginning we move and dance with the obvious aspects that lie inside. The stiffness, the pains, the stretching muscles, the joint facets gliding over each other. This is the beginning of the exploration of the space beneath our skin.

Over time our awareness becomes more stable and concentrated inside of our bodies.  As a result we also begin to notice and feel more subtle experiences. Ultimately there comes a time when the space underneath our skin becomes infinite and expansive. The macrocosm is then seen in the microcosm of your own being!

Change Yourself, change the world

Now it is often said, that everybody tries to change the world but nobody tries to change themselves. Being aware and responding to the inner space is where we start to change our inner world. As a result the reflection is then seen in our outer world.

Eckhart Tolle said, "The pollution of the planet is only an outer reflection of our inner psychic pollution: millions of unconscious people not taking responsibility for their inner space." How do we take more responsibility? First we need to listen, perceive, become aware of this inner space. Open up to the possibility that what you experience here is as valid (if not more) as anything perceived outside.  If we remain present, we  then need to respond to what we are hearing. Otherwise we are just reacting based on conditioning.

Inner space and movement

Conscious dance is a great way to practice this. Because our movement has a built in feedback loop that helps us know which movements or actions enlighten and which throw us deeper into ignorance. It comes to us immediately as feelings in the body.  This is not an invitation to chase good feelings.  Understand that the inner space holds the full gambit of pleasure and pain. Rather this is an invitation to move with whatever the feeling is, in a way that does not create fatigue, exhaustion, resistance, shut down, or suppression.

Explore moving in a way that allows one to open and become receptive, empathetic, compassionate and loving towards it all. For example grief instead of being crippling becomes good grief. Seen and expressed fully in your dance.

Through conscious dance we are able to embody this totality, and wisdom inevitably dawns. The better we get at this, the deeper our experience will be and our vision will open.

How to Practice?

So how to dance the inner space? It starts as always with awareness as we move. We feel into the space. Make effort to keep our attention focused inside. Remain open and receptive to experiencing everything there. Our vision is limited and whatever you perceive, more can be discovered.

Then we begin to move allowing the dance to dance us. Along with exploring creative ways of moving. Feeling into the response we are getting from the inner space. We remain playful and curious. Touch the space with loving kind awareness. Nothing is ignored, suppressed or judged. All experience is valid.

We drop deeper into our bodies and let the movement take us. As with all conscious dance, it is not a practice of thinking our way into it. Rather we feel our way into it. It requires us to let go of controlling the experience or trying to create a specific experience. We accept what is there. Giving it our full awareness and allowing the body to find its rhythm and movement. Keep up with the practice, regularly. Cultivate trust in your inner perceptions and responses. Over time this will become second nature.