Practice: Holding the Empty Bowl

If you’re in a period of change in your life, where there aren’t a lot of easy answers, here’s a practice that I recommend.

I use this practice to give myself permission to Not Know the answers, and to give myself some breathing space.

I also do it to practice being receptive to my inner wisdom. In our culture, sadly, that needs practicing. We are taught to “take the bull by the horns” and “make it happen” or “figure it out,” rather than to be receptive, fertile space for the answers to come when they are ready to come, intuitively and from deep within.

Holding the Empty Bowl

Here’s how it works:

• Find a basket or bowl that you love.
• Set aside 10 minutes for this practice.
• Place the empty container in your lap.
• Breathe deeply for a few breaths, and say a simple prayer to the deepest part of yourself. Choose your own words, but the spirit of it is this: I empty myself. My heart is open and my mind is clear. I am ready to receive my deepest knowing.
• Sit with an open, receptive heart, breathing deeply, for the remainder of time. Just like in meditation, let your thoughts just float through and out of your mind, gently and without judgement.

Something deeply resonant may come into your awareness, and it may not. It also may come later, or not. I don’t use this practice to get specific answers to my dilemmas directly.

You’ll find, after you establish your Bowl Practice for a while, that when the wisdom comes, it arises from within, when it is needed. It emerges from your pure intention of listening. From being expectant, but not attached, to getting anything.

Then, you are truly partnering with emergence, and with your inner wisdom. I hope that you enjoy this practice and that it nourishes you to your very core.