The River Meditation

A simple way to think about complex journeys

Photo by Ezra Jeffrey-Comeau on Unsplash

I sometimes share this meditation during savasana, the final resting pose at the end of a yoga class. It goes like this:

Moving through life is like flowing down a river. Much of the time we navigate the river skillfully, working with the energy of the currents. Sometimes we swim. Sometimes we float on our backs. Sometimes we make use of the rocks or the low-hanging branches of trees to time and direct our passage. With experience we learn to shape our bodies so the currents take us towards shallow sandbars when we need to rest, or along favorable paths when we want to flow swiftly. 

As we’re carried downstream however, there are times we must pass through stronger currents and chaotic rapids. When this happens our instinct is to struggle. We try to fight the river. If we lose control or get pulled under we start to panic. We find ourselves scratching for the surface even though we know struggling only exhausts us and panic is a recipe for drowning. 

Skilled navigators learn to override these instincts. We learn to trust the river. We practice relaxing and let the currents take us. Even if they take us farther and faster than we expected. Even if they hold us under a little longer than we’d like. Even if sometimes we get bruised on the rocks. When the rapids become powerful enough to overwhelm us, skilled navigators know our only option is to surrender. A masterful traveler holds their breath and waits until the river returns them to the surface, which is not guaranteed of course.

At other times during the journey the river flows slowly and gently. It may sweep us into the shelter of a clear, shade-dappled pool. Or we may stall in the caress of a gentle eddy, where we will have the opportunity to rest. In these calm moments we have time to reflect. 

It is fear that interferes with our ability to navigate currents and manage the energy and force of the rougher parts of the river. In order to be intuitive, intelligent and effective travelers we must do two things: 

One: We make peace with the past. Though our tendency is to try to forget the scary and the painful, when we have the chance it’s best to laugh, cry, scream, yawn, shake, ponder, bow, tell our story, and wonder at the amazing, sometimes treacherous awesomeness of the river, and at how little control of it we actually have. It’s best to do this with others.

Two: When we find ourselves floating through calmer waters we must REST. For the river will ask us again for both skill and surrender.

Please share. Which part of the river are you in now? And.. how are you navigating?