We have certainly all discovered in our personal lives the incredible value of focus and the incredible value of setting goals. It works.
- When we get up in the day …
- When we have a clear vision of exactly what we want to accomplish that day …
- When we have a very specific plan …
We are able to implement this plan and by the end of the day it is done. Finished. We can accomplish precisely the goal that we established the first thing in the morning.
When we do this day after day and when we have an overall vision of where we are headed, we become very successful individuals. Focus works. It succeeds. It allows us to make miracles happen in our lives.
There is however, a formidable downside to focus. With focus we are narrow mindedly center on a very tiny aspect of what it means to be alive, of what it means to feel the full pleasure of occupying a body. One of the serious consequences of focus is that we pump out our adrenaline minute after minute. Our bodies never have the opportunity to settle into that delicious state of relaxation. When our bodies are pumping out adrenaline continuously, it is no wonder that after a few years our hormones are completely whacked. It is no wonder that the body says,
“Hey, there’s no real need or necessity for me to manufacture any dopamine because this body isn’t asking for it and doesn’t need it.”
Of course, without dopamine our bodies suffer serious neurological implications.
The idea of a vision quest as an exercise – and I might say, a very simple exercise at that – is to invite you to acknowledge and honor the value of focus but concurrently to recognize how that has narrowed experience of living life to its fullest. Open up a vision of seeing what is missed moment-to-moment. Lo and behold – you begin to take in the full pleasures, the full wonders of what the world has to offer. When we focus our awareness on the miracles of the moment our 40 or so hormones are invited to come back into full balance and harmony.
A vision quest then is an invitation to open up a narrow focus wider and wider and wider each time you sit; so that –
- By the end of the week
- By the end of the month
- By the end of the year
You make it habit to take in with your vision the deliciousness of what it means to be present to your world in a fully occupied body.
You can still focus. You can still set goals. But, at the same time it is possible to open up your vision of what you are seeing moment-to-moment. The vision quest is most successful when you are in environments that are totally familiar.
There will be pictures that you hung years ago that you actually haven’t looked at or taken in for perhaps decades. Do that now.
There are items – perhaps knickknacks – in the room where you are sitting now. Notice their eloquence and detail today. Appreciate them in a new way.
Outside there are birds and critters that you may seldom stop to observe or even notice. Notice them now. Observe their beauty.
Notice how your body immediately settles into a place of deep relaxation.
The symptoms of Parkinson’s are no longer able to rear their ugly head when stress is not present. Bringing yourself into a place of centeredness and balance moment to moment means that stress cannot be a part of who you are in that moment.
Enjoy your vision quest for the rest of the week. Every time you sit down find something new to look at. Take the image in fully and completely. Enjoy the deliciousness of what it means to be alive and in a physical body.
Robert
© Parkinsons Recovery