Over the last few weeks I’ve been discussing getting into the flow. I started out by defining what I mean by getting into the flow and highlighting the various levels of flow which are inner flow, physiologic flow and body flow. You can find these articles are the following link. This week I’d like to discuss out flow. What do I mean by outer flow?

What I mean is our oneness and connection to the whole. None of us exists in isolation but are interdependent on each other, all of nature and even non-living matter. Science tells us that we all arose from the same source in the cataclysmic event known as the Big Bang. Therefore, regardless of how separate we seem to be from everyone and everything, we are all one. 

This can be easily demonstrated by looking at a simple aspect of our lives. The fruits and vegetables we eat are grown by farmers, often in foreign countries. The crops that are grown require the energy of the sun to help them grow and mature. They require  irrigation systems and fertilizer as well as sophisticated machinery to plant and harvest them. To import these fruits and vegetables requires elaborate transportation systems such as ships. All of these things, irrigation systems, fertilizer, farm machinery and ships need to be manufactured in factories, often overseas, which usually employee hundreds, if not thousands of workers. This simple example illustrates how interdependent and connected we are all on a global scale.

The problem is we often live our lives as though we are separate from one another and even in competition with each other and the world we live in often seems quite hostile. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as we become so involved in our own lives and personal issues that we think nothing of those around us.

Now this is not true of everybody as there are many people involved in work to improve the world through philanthropy and volunteering their time and energy to help those in need. The problem is that we only feel this connection to others and the whole when we are directly involved in the service to others and charitable acts. Between the times that we are involved in these activities we become lost in the illusion of separation and isolation again.

What is important to realize is that an important aspect of being in the flow is to live from a place of connection of oneness with the whole, living and non-living. So how does one go about doing this? One way, and not the only way, is to embody that connection to the whole through a meditative process as often as you can. You can start with just 5 minutes a day.

This is best done in nature but if you don’t have that luxury then just simply do it in a quiet place where you know you won’t be bothered. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Take a few slow but full breaths and then focus on your heart center. Feel the energy of your heart deeply and fully.

Now bring into your awareness your immediate surroundings. If you are in your house this could be the surrounding furniture or lamps, the floor, the walls and the ceiling and anything else that is in the room you are meditating in. If you are in nature this could be the ground, the grass, the trees and bushes, any birds or animals that are near you, any nearby rivers or lakes, the clouds, the sky and the sun.

As you bring everything in your immediate surroundings into your awareness expand your heart’s energy to connect with the energy of everything that surrounds you. Truly feel and embody your connection to everything in your surroundings. Realize that at an atomic and subatomic level you and everything around you is essentially empty space and use this realization to embody your connection and oneness to everything around you and beyond.

This exercise cannot be intellectually with the mind but must be felt with the heart. Spend as much time in this practice as you can and, over time, expand both the time you spend in this practice and the frequency with which you do this practice, Over time you will start to feel more connected with all that comes into your world and beyond and live from a place of oneness.

This will cultivate love, compassion, joy and peace within you and will conspire to get you into and keep you in the flow. From this place you will be able to navigate your life situation effortlessly including any challenge or uncertainty that you face.

By combining the practices of inner flow, physiologic flow, body flow and outer flow, as I have described here and in previous articles, you will not only transcend the physical world but be able to transform it in a positive way and not let it affect you in a negative way. You will be able to live from a higher consciousness which is what is needed to solve the complex problems that our world now faces.

The reason our world is in such chaos is that not enough of us are living in the flow so I encourage you all to engage in these flow practices, not only to elevate your life but to elevate the world around you.

Nauman Naeem MD