Recently, in a session with an Esoteric Healing practitioner, I was asked the question: “What would it feel like to not have the rush in your body?”
This simple question has changed my life because I knew the answer was – it feels delicious when I am not rushing.
I can feel a deep stillness and glow inside my body, which is hard to describe – it is the same feeling I get when I am being a ‘starfish,’ simply lying on my back in the sea or a lake, feeling the support of the water all around me and the sky above me.
I feel expanded, as if the molecules in my body are reaching out and joining with the molecules in the water and the particles in the sky. Writing this, I now understand that this feeling is a feeling of connection to the All –to God, to Nature, to all people and indeed to the whole Universe.
So I asked my self: “What does it feel like to have the rush in my body?”
Answer: It feels really horrible inside my body. It feels like I am on a roller coaster that never stops, such that I am in a constant state of ‘alert’. I have had this feeling inside my body for so long that I hadn’t even realised it was there – it is like a faint, almost imperceptible, underlying ‘buzz’.
Indeed, it was not until I consciously took my awareness to it, by asking myself this question many times during the day, that I understood that it was there most of the time… and that it feels so very unloving, un-joyful and the very opposite of expansive: rather, it feels like I am disconnected from everything around me, as if I am sitting to one side, watching the rest of the world go by, all alone with this constant, low-grade anxiety and tension.
Knowing the difference between the two is a revelation.
Now, during the day, whenever I can feel I am going into ‘rush,’ I stop and feel the effect this is having inside my body – and then I re-connect to my gentle breath and to my stillness, my be-ingness. In short, I choose to come back to me.
The difference this simple thing has made to my life is nothing short of amazing. For example, I have noticed that I often hold my breath when I am rushing, or breathe more quickly and more up in my chest, and very often I am not aware of my breath at all! When I am still, I am more connected to my breath and I have noticed that I breathe more evenly and my breaths are longer, deeper and gentle.
I can feel the gentle rise and fall of my body when I breathe this way, especially around my ribs. I have also observed that my shoulders rise up and my cheeks, eyes, eyebrow centre and jaw tighten when I am rushing and I feel a lot of tension in other muscles, such as my belly, lower back, neck and buttocks. When I am still, my muscles are relaxed, my jaw drops and my face softens.
This has become a great indicator for me, such that when I feel any of these signs of tension, I stop, drop back into my body and re-connect to how my body feels without the tension and rush.
Simple really – it is just a choice in each and every moment.
With deeply felt thanks and appreciation to Ingrid Ward, an Esoteric Healing practitioner, for framing the ‘rush’ in such a way that I felt it and understood it in my body, rather than just knowing it in my mind.
By Anne Scott, Accredited Mediator, Yoga Teacher, Exercise Instructor, Esoteric Healing Practitioner, Auckland, New Zealand
Further Reading:
Your Body Tells The truth
Time: How I Changed My Relationship With The Invisible Tyrant
How to Study Without Stress…Yes!
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
“Knowing the difference between the two is a revelation” Connected to our inner stillness we connect to space and when we rush we are chasing time.
Thanking Anne, as rushing can take us away from our connection and expanding on what you have shared, could it be we are some what in a judgement and feel we need to do things faster or better and thus rush to feel we are fit and able for a given task? In rushing when we see it as a hole or opening for an ill energy to come in and underpin the rush-athon we can get into, we become aware of the deeper understanding of how our body works and thus close the hole. Finding this holes that are bit like worm holes that our spirit wriggles in and out of becomes simpler when we can be at-least gentle in our movements as you have shared, “and then I re-connect to my gentle breath and to my stillness, my be-ingness. In short, I choose to come back to me,” and heal the opening as it is seen and felt for the intrusion into our Livingness.
The pressure on the body of being in a rush is intense, everything gets sped up and condensed, it really is like being in a pressure cooker and then we transport that ‘pressure cooker’ into different environments and everybody else around us gets hammered by our energetic state of being, especially our poor old kids who we seem to be permanently telling to ‘hurry up’.
When you become used to not being in rush energy, slipping back into it stands out as it feels so horrible, ‘it feels so very unloving, un-joyful and the very opposite of expansive: rather, it feels like I am disconnected from everything around me’.
Anne I have come back to this blog after several years and once again felt it’s power. It is simple and yet powerfully transformative. By describing rush you are describing a state of being that affects pretty much everybody on the planet or certainly in what we refer to as the ‘Western World’. Being in rush, as you have so clearly described is being in a state of separation or rather a state that feels like it’s in separation from everything else because the truth is we can never be apart.
Since I last read this I can feel rushing more acutely, it feels so terrible, yet I agree that it can be there like a background noise without realising it is present. Somehow we have put what we need to do ahead of the health and wellbeing of our body and our connection to ourselves. Everything about us is so precious yet we place value in completing things, and often as many things as we can without regard to ourselves.
When I rush I alway feel like my body is catching up with the way my mind thinks something needs to be. I feel like I am way ahead of myself. When I am this way I often find that I walk into furniture or bump into walls, which I feel is my bodies way of communicating ‘slow down’.
Rushing feels horrible in our bodies, and, ‘it feels delicious when I am not rushing.’
Rushing and cramming in as much as possible in our days seems to be quite normal. You have inspired me Anne to look at simplifying my life as I’m sure there are things I don’t need to do that instead offer me space to just be with me. Great tips too on being aware of the body when we rush or push ourselves, even if it’s a normal thing we may find hard to spot within ourselves, the body gives away the truth of our choices with the physical tension we experience.
The contrast of how our bodies feel when we are still and surrendered, as opposed to rushing, is huge, ‘I can feel a deep stillness and glow inside my body’.
“When I am still, I am more connected to my breath” being aware of our breath is a powerful and gentle way of knowing we are connected with ourselves and not rushing around ‘doing’.
“What would it feel like to not have the rush in your body?” This is a great question, and it also begs the question – how many times a day do we compromise our body in order to rush or to get something done?
Worth stopping and checking on how we feel throughout our day, ‘Now, during the day, whenever I can feel I am going into ‘rush,’ I stop and feel the effect this is having inside my body – and then I re-connect to my gentle breath and to my stillness, my be-ingness. In short, I choose to come back to me.’
I also find with rush that at times I want to check out as to stop the rush and ‘do nothing’. But often I find that when I do that, and watch a movie, TV, eat etc…. the rush really does not stop. Not like when you choose to really be with your body and feel the stillness.
In the past I used to think if I was rushing I was getting alot done, yes sure I maybe ticking alot of boxes but at what expense to my body, not to mention there’s no real quality to anything that I do.
The quality we do things in is key, we leave that as an imprint, which has a ripple effect.
When I catch myself in a rush my body feels rushed my heartbeat is faster and I feel a complete agitation in my body, through the Gentle Breath Meditation I am able to bring a stop and get my breath back into a natural rhythm that releases my body from the agitation.
It is important to stay connected with, and feeling our bodies at all times, then we are aware of when we can go into a rush, or indeed anything else, ‘I have also observed that my shoulders rise up and my cheeks, eyes, eyebrow centre and jaw tighten when I am rushing and I feel a lot of tension in other muscles, such as my belly, lower back, neck and buttocks. When I am still, my muscles are relaxed, my jaw drops and my face softens.’
When not rushing is to feel the spaciousness within and around my body.
A big difference one felt again how leaving a room without rush — leaves space indeed.
I am going to take the question, ‘How does it feel in my body not to rush? into my day today as when I asked this question of myself on reading it felt delicious, too. Great inspiration, thank you.
To experiment or not, that is the question. Our days offer us endless possibilities to make experiments with ourselves. Rushing is one option, but not the only one. For some people, this is all they may know and adopt this as normal. Those who can claim to know stillness in their bodies have a marker of truth that is the only thing that can help us to stop experimenting against our own well-being.
Thank you Eduardo for a gorgeous realisation – that self-abuse is ‘experimenting against our own well-being’.
It really shows how it is all just a choice Anne. Perhaps not always a conscious choice but a choice we have made nevertheless.
When we don’t rush we can be in and feel an interconnectedness that is innate.
Rush feels like a very bad, compensatory, attempt at emulating the speed that we can often observe when things are executed in connection and simplicity but usually fails at delivering speed and instead breeds complexity and delay and often the quality suffers.
Just reading the question is already unpleasant so the answer is clear. There is never a need to rush but that does not mean that we cannot act promptly or walk fast.
Great blog Anne, I also recognise those feelings and I was not aware I was anxious until I didn’t experience it for long periods. From time to time it creeps back in but it happens less often and I am able to recognise it very quickly. I also realise when I rush anything, anxiety kicks in immediately and takes over the show but when I don’t rush but instead choose to stay connected to my body and to what I am doing with love and care, everything then becomes a joy. This is an awesome reminder for me to regularly check in with myself to see how often I go into rush, rush, rush.
Thanks for your comment, I had this exact feeling this morning as I was much more present with everything I was doing in a step by step way, as a result I could then choose a gentle and tender quality to be in as I was not thinking about something other than what I was doing. I realised that when I am not present with myself like I was today I feel very rushed, and although I am an adult I registered that my body has the same delicateness of a child, and the rushing and not being present with myself feels like very rough treatment – even though it looks quite normal on the surface with our current standards.
When I disconnect from my body it is so easy for me to get into my head and go into drive.
Same here Anna, I used to go into drive a lot and now it has become less and less. For anxiety, drive, rush or anything that harms us and makes life difficult, it means I have first disconnected from myself to allow what does not belong to interfere and spoil my day.
i’ve had a couple of super busy weeks and a few of those days anxious rush was very much present. I allowed myself to feel how awful it felt in the body. As when I allow myself to feel that, as lovingly as I can (as in being a good friend to my body and asking how it feels and actually being open to the answer), then I can choose differently. And that choice can simply be to acknowledge how that feels, go for a short walk to connect back to my body, breath gently and then go back to what I am doing in a more connected, less rushy way.
As I read you blog Anne I realised that when I am rushing I literally feel like a steam train is pushing me from behind – this is obviously something I need to ponder on.
That is so true Suse, great analogy. It does feel like that, and sometimes it feels like it is soooo difficult to stop the rush and drive because I can feel this force pushing me from behind. But once we recognise it, the force is then weakened and when we allow ourselves to feel what is going on, we are able to put a stop to it. But if we continue to stay disconnected from our body, it is very difficult to stop, feel and adjust what we are choosing.
“I have also observed that my shoulders rise up and my cheeks, eyes, eyebrow centre and jaw tighten when I am rushing ”
The body is so wonderful it always lets one know when we are putting it under stress.
Great little blog Anne, really explaining the difference between getting ahead of ourself and moving with our self. To be or not to be this is indeed the question covered beautifully by to “To Rush or Not to Rush”
When I rush I usually make mistakes or knock into something or something goes wrong and flags up the disharmony of the rush! Not rushing doesn’t necessarily mean going slower, in fact it often makes me more efficient, but the main part is the way I’m doing what I am is harmonious rather than rushed and that makes a difference.
Not rushing – it feels warm, smooth, open big, expansive, inclusive, spacious. Why not choose that in everything we do no matter how busy?
There is a huge difference when we understand something in our bodies as opposed to from our minds. We truly get it’s impact we feel it in our bodies and we’re presented with a real choice on whether we want to be that way or not?
Rushing is a way to not stop and truly feel what is going on,I have noticed how much I am holding my breath now when I go into rush mode. When I notice this I can stop and come back to my gentle breath and feel in that moment.
“It feels delicious when I am not rushing.” Rushing is a way to keep us apart from the sacredness of our inner stillness.
Feeling ‘delicious’ is our natural living way and if we were to use feeling delicious as our benchmark of knowing how far from our natural living way we’ve become then it wouldn’t take most of us long to realise that the answer is ‘a very long way indeed’. But that needn’t be all doom and gloom because as Anne has so beautifully demonstrated it’s only a matter of choice to return to the deliciousness that is the truth of who we are.
I too have found that rushing is not my natural but a way of being that has its roots in recognition and reward, looking for being appreciated for how much I can do on a day instead of being appreciative myself for the quality from my essence I bring to life.
There is a vast difference between the two ways of being, one is innate and natural, the other, as our body will reveal to us, is not. We are constantly breathing throughout the day, but how often are we in connection with the movement that reveals the quality of energy we are choosing to move with. As I have discovered that the more I am connected to my breath, the more I am in connection to my being, and my body is a constant guide to the quality I am living in every moment, if I am willing to listen.
It’s a great description of rushing, I can relate. It definitely hardens the body and creates tension and strain, I’m sure over a long time it could have a significant affect physiologically and on the musculoskeletal system. It’s interesting what you shared about rushing making you feel cut off form the expansiveness and connection to the all, I’ve noticed emotions like anger do that too.
Actually we can say that like emotions, rushing has the same effect on our bodies and to our being in the way that it hardens and make us less aware.
It does feel gorgeous to not rush, I know I am looking after my body when I am not in a rush and I love it when thing flow with ease and stillness. The quality of everything I do in stillness and connection is exquisite.
it is so true Chan – beautifully said. When we stay with ourselves, every move we make is enriched with a quality of presence that is exquisite, and confirms that we don’t need to be anywhere else, as in being with who we are we are with everything.
Rushing guarantees a type of movement that creates individuality by force.
I’m becoming more aware of all those moments when I get up to do something in a rush rather than moving in my own time giving myself the space needed.