Integration

Integration...ahhh... my body softens even as I write the word.

Integration is the frequently overlooked pearl in the ocean of hurried living that rules so much of our lives these days. In a world of perpetual motion and emotion, action and reaction, it is truly a gift to prioritize time for integration as we define and refine our formula to thrive in this fast paced existence that asks and offers so much.

At its most basic expression, integration is the much needed space in between moments- whether they are moments of great celebration, immense pain and suffering, hardship, heartfelt connection, devotion or agitation. Integration ushers us into a moment of spaciousness where we can come back to ourselves in order that we might bring with us a fuller and more complete relationship to all we’ve experienced as a budding expression of our wholeness.

Integration is breath- it is the birthing and the completion- the inhale and the exhale.

When we claim time and space for integration, be it a moment or a lifetime, we offer the opportunity for our nervous systems to assimilate more fully the information we have been engaging. Without time for integration, it is far too easy for our systems to become overwhelmed, overstimulated and over taxed leading to stress, reactivity and dissatisfaction.

As I write to you today I am integrating the deliciousness of time spent in heartfelt connection, joy filled exchanges, and blessed co-creation while traveling this week. As magical as this time has been, the gift I give myself is time to integrate and assimilate the depth of beauty that has transpired so that I might be ever more fully changed by the preciousness of the experience. If I were to jump ahead to what is next, I would miss this opportunity to grow from all that life has just offered me.

In music, I’ve learned, that to create a masterpiece, we need not only to pay attention to the notes, but also to the spaces and spacing in between that create the harmony, the real magic.

In your life, creating time for integration whether it is moments of stillness upon rising, before or after work, after a heated exchange or following a blessed encounter will allow you to receive more fully the potency of these experiences. It will invite you to process emotions that need your loving attention and to find stillness where perhaps just moments prior there was none. All of this lends itself to the further claiming of your wholeness and deepening sense of connection to Self, life and other.

I invite you to find and bask in the stillness between the notes of your life and in so doing you will fulfill your calling to offer the world the masterpiece you came here to create; the unique song you came here to sing.