Water can also teach us about holding on, about our attempts to keep things as they are. I was talking with someone the other day who was quite stuck in wanting his job to go in a certain direction. Because of this, he was less than flexible when talking with his boss about projected changes in his department.
Our conversation got me to thinking about how many of us seek to hold onto what’s familiar or comfortable, and to struggle against change that life inevitably brings our way. When I think of water as a teacher in this way, my mind went to the ways in which water freezes and becomes ice. When this happens, it can no longer flow until such time as the environment changes and frees it. That got me to thinking about the difference in those times when life circumstances require us to stay in a particular place or situation for a particular amount of time, and those times when we keep ourselves “frozen in place” because of our fears or desires.

For this experiment, think of a time when you felt really “locked down” around an issue, a time when you absolutely did not want to change your position on something, try something new, or be somewhere unfamiliar to you. As you recall that time, also notice how it felt in your body to be “frozen in place” around the issue. Notice the actual sensations that come into your awareness as you put yourself back in that place. As you do, also imagine the quality of ice, of water frozen in place unable to move in any direction at all.

Now, continuing with the metaphor of water as ice, notice that your determination not to engage the change in front of you – your fear or desire that keeps you from moving forward – begins to melt, as if warm sunlight were shining on the place in you that has been frozen. Just as warm sunlight melts water, and a spontaneous flow begins to emerge, notice what happens in your body-mind being as you begin to melt around this issue. If you can’t imagine softening into change, allow yourself to ask: If I could imagine melting, what would I experience? Then, notice what happens. If you were to imagine that you actually are melting ice, how would it feel to begin to move, to begin to flow again, to be free to find your way into what’s next?

As you play with water as a teacher, and particularly – for this experiment – explore areas where you may be frozen in place, allow yourself to notice the distinct difference between being unwilling to move or change and when you are in one of those times when it’s appropriate to be quiet, as in those times when water rests in a pond or lake before moving on. Also, if you do allow yourself to experiment with melting, notice what it feels like to move into the stance of “no struggle.” I know I’ve invited you to do this a number of times before, and I can’t say enough what a gift it is to move into a life stance of “no struggle.” Not struggling doesn’t mean settling for circumstances or situations that need to be changed. Rather, it means to be like water with whatever you encounter along the way, finding what’s possible at any given moment in time.

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