Staying in Your Middle Ground

When we slow down, and are able to observe ourselves in that moment, I call it finding our Middle Ground. It is the first step in spiritual self inquiry. It’s when we look inwards, asking ourselves the ultimate question”Who am I?”

In this space we become a curious observer of ourselves and develop witness consciousness.

“The witness is your awareness of your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Witnessing is like waking up in the morning and then looking in the mirror and noticing yourself — not judging or criticizing, just neutrally observing the quality of being awake. That process of stepping back takes you out of being submerged in your experiences and thoughts and sensory input and into self-awareness.” ~ Ram Dass

For me, the practice of yoga and meditation brings me to my Middle Ground. As I learn to be here more and more, I realize that the true nature of us all is awareness. I am the perceiver of myself and the world around me, and happen to live in a thinking, breathing, physical and energetic body.

Yet, finding our Middle Ground is only the beginning. The next step is to stay here, and come from this place every day.

“Along with that self-awareness comes the subtle joy of just being here, alive, enjoying being present in this moment. Eventually, floating in that subjective awareness, the objects of awareness dissolve, and you will come into the spiritual Self, which is pure consciousness, joy, compassion, the One.” ~ Ram Dass

As we practice being present and aware, a new sense of being emerges. We become less attached to external objects, and we feel a sense of connection with everyone.

Living in our Middle Ground, develops compassion for others, and for ourselves… just the way we are.
We feel less disturbance and motivation. There is no longer a feeling of lack, or anxiety. We recognize that everything passes and we are no longer attached. There is no worry or fear.

Yet, staying in our Middle Ground continues to be a practice. There will be times when I am brought back to feelings of  fear or uncertainty, or become attached to something pleasurable. This seems to be way of human beings.

With awareness of this we can bring ourselves back to the first step once more.

And that’s okay.  Its simply an opportunity to find our Middle Ground once more and sense the spiritual Self that is there for us to keep connecting to.

Namaste