“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you”
You want peace, right? Yet, life seems like it's crazy busy, always on the go, so much to do and never a moment to spare. It's a busy time for so many whether it's preparing for a holiday season, school functions to attend for your children or grandchildren, more cooking to do, the never-ending deadlines at work, more social functions, and the gift-knitting, the list goes on...
So, you turn to your knitting for a little downtime.
You wind a ball of yarn in your desire to quickly get started, it knots like you've never seen before and after a few moments your frustrations begin to build.
You gloss over the pattern instructions while you watch your favorite t.v. show or listen to the news, only to find out a few (or many) rows later your stitch count is off. "But I read the instructions" you proclaim.
You sit down to knit and after you finish you realize you can't recall those moments you were knitting? Where did my mind wander?
We turned to our knitting because it brings us peace, right. But what about the scenarios above were peaceful? Maybe it wasn't the knitting itself that was "unpeaceful" but how we responded to the situation. Perhaps our attention was elsewhere meaning we weren't really engaged.in the process.
What is your knitting telling you?
Do you need to slow down, turn inward and focus on the task at hand?
Do you need to take a breath when the situation isn't going quite as planned?
Are you being intentional with your knitting?
Now, this isn't to say that there aren't skeins of yarn that are destined to knot, or poorly written patterns, or an appropriate time for mindless knitting. All these things are true but it's how we respond to these situations that provides each one of us with some insight...if we are listening.
Perhaps our knitting is teaching us the need to be more mindful with our actions. And that's how we can use our knitting to truly find stillness amidst all the chaos in our world.
Day 9. Peace tip.
When you knit today, focus in on the stitches. Watch your hands as you insert the needle, wrap or pick the yarn, move the needles, and allow the newly formed stitch to gracefully move from the left to the right needle. With one new stitch formed, think about this incredible act because each one of those new stitches is added to the next to create something beautiful.
Now, as you begin to pick up speed, repeat I - AM - HERE as you knit 3 stitches. Find a rhythm. Pay attention to your breath. Allow your breath to set the pace...inhale over 3 stitches and then exhale over 3 stitches.
Listen to your knitting. Is it telling you to slow down and be present?
What's your knitted lesson?
As an aside... let's say you don't knit. This strategy could be applied to almost anything. Perhaps even cleaning the house.
Peace to you today, one stitch at a time.
~Christina
