Pausing to become aware!

A grater Coucal was perched in the neem tree in our  courtyard, when I walked out into the garden. What followed was something unusual.

The Greater Coucal took a short nap as seen in the following three photos. 

In a short time it was real to fly away! It was a mid morning pause to rest!

I know very little about sleep habits of birds. I have some photos of birds in still posture with eyes closed. I know that some birds do not always close eyes while sleeping. 

One aspect of this sequence of photos is, how a greater coucal was still for a while before closing its eyes. That could have been the normal pause in between the flights. But it became more than that. A bird responded to its body's need of rest.

I realise that this awareness of the state of the body is an important  skill we too can develop. The nearness to the way our body feels is an essential aspect of living with a sense of awareness. 

Our body gives us messages. A headache is a message; a dream is a message; tiredness is a message; not feeling good is a message...!

Our body gives us multiple signals or symptoms to call us to attention to the needs of the body, mind or soul. 

A paracetamol when there is a headache or a cup of coffee when  tired or watching the screen or listening to music when downcast.... they are not the answers, but only ad-hoc measures with transient benefit. 

Pausing to find the triggers and responding to them volitionally and proactively can assist us to become familiar with the purposes of the messages we feel in our body, mind or soul!

I know of a senior person who takes three minutes break about four times during the eight hours of the work he does during the day.  He returns home most days, energised and not tired because he used those three minutes break to nourish himself by 'becoming silently present to his body, mind and soul'!

One unfortunate experience of some, with whom I am in touch with is the state of their fractured sleep night after night. The cicardian rhythm of sleep is an essential Neuro-physiological requirement for metabolic and endocrine functioning. Going to bed late, interruption by dreams, getting up late with a tired feeling, micro sleep during the day and prolonged visual stimulation from the TV or computer late in the evening are some reasons for the fractured sleep. The essentials of sleep hygiene are, regular bed time rituals, fixing a time to go to bed and get up in the morning, good environmental conditions for sound sleep, avoiding stimulants at bed time and practicing a minimum seven hours of sleep with longer sleep during week end to accommodate sleep debt...The disorders of sleep can be treated by personal discipline with the help of a specialist. The snoring which many ignore can become a snare later to alter the quality of sleep. To sleep enough and well with attention to the Rapid Eye Movement sleep and non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep is a personal ritual adults and children need. 

 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)