I believe it was the French saint Therese of Liseux who once predicted that snow would come in the middle of June. Sure enough, a day came in June when snow did fall, and her miracle happened. But I am wondering, with all the extremes in weather patterns today, if snow in June would seem that weird anymore.
In my home in northern California, January was so cold that, walking on the frozen ground, you would think you were in Greenland. Rainfall was almost nonexistent, just ¾”. Warnings about drought are now so widespread that there are water cops who anonymously check on how much you are using. But why is that unusual—England has just been hit by the worst floods in a century, cutting off supplies of drinking water for tens of thousands of people. Heat was so intense in central Europe that older people are being warned not to go outside.
Whether it is global warming or from some other cause, the whole world is enduring great extremes in heat, cold, wet, and dry. This is hard not just on our bodies and our living environments, but on our emotions. So rather than speculating on what truly is behind such wild extremes of weather, I would ask, how can we learn to stay calmly centered in ourselves, whether it is bitterly cold or blisteringly hot? Can we stop the feelings of shock and panic and replace them with ease and peace? Here are five things everyone can do:
(1) I would strongly encourage beginning your day with a spiritual practice. Some people practice prayer or deep personal contemplation. In my case, I practice passage meditation before I get up and involve myself in the events of the day. This means, choosing a passage of verse from scripture or poetry and going over it silently in the mind for half an hour. If it is going to get hot later on, I get up when the cool night air still is an influence. I sit calmly going through great words like those of the Zen master who was asked what to do in very torrid weather. “Journey to that place within you that is beyond the reach of heat and cold,” he said. As the mind slows, entering deep within yourself, you realize you can take with you throughout the day that place of peace that you find within you in each and every meditation. This peaceful spot is less affected by anything that happens on the outside, whether the worst hurricane or the severest drought. With a mind moving slowly, you can register and receive events more calmly, responding intelligently rather than reacting automatically. This is not to say that the body won’t suffer in extreme cold or in sweltering heat, but you will not add to that suffering with a pain-causing, overemotional reaction.
(2) Drink plenty of liquids. The body craves pure, health-giving water. In freezing weather, hot liquids lubricate the whole system, and in the heat, cool (not cold) water keeps our metabolism at its highest level of adaptability to the hot conditions. The more water we drink, the more life can course through us and renew us at the level of every single cell. Again, this will not give us immunity to physical effects of extreme cold or heat, but peace amidst them.
(3) Eat right. A diet of healthy nutriments from all the food groups will help our body cope with extreme heat, cold, or wetness at its very highest level. Junk food clogs the system with globs of unhealthy substances the body must deal with in addition to the blistering heat or shivering cold. Ultimately, the body is made up exactly of what we eat, and when that is substances like power veggies, protein-packed legumes, flours, and nuts, and luscious fruits, we can handle anything the outside thrusts upon us a whole lot better.
(4) Healthful exercise: The body was meant for motion. Don’t let the weather keep you from it, just adapt your exercise times to conditions. Vigorous exercise cleanses and renews the body and reinvigorates our life and feelings. If the day is very hot, put on protective sunscreen then try swimming avidly in the lake or pool, or walking freely in the hills or on the beach. Whether in the cold or the heat, the body needs to move with the natural rhythm it craves. Pulsating with that rhythm, we can adapt better to weather conditions by coming closer to our native state of life lived in the body, not enslaved by the mind. As our body gently moves, more slowly on a hot day and quicker on a cold one, we can relax into a vastness deeper than ourselves and not be brought down by the sweltering heat or the bitter cold. Whether we swing our arms in the bracing wind or feel the harmony of our breathing with our footstep, we perceive in our humble happiness an opening through which we can speak to our original self, that place deep within ourselves that is beyond the reach of heat and cold, whatever weather is happening on the outside.
(5) Live clean. The quality of a hot day on the beach or in the desert is different from that same heat in a smog-filled city. In the end, we are the creators of what we live and experience. I myself try not to do anything that contributes to more impurity in the air, because I sense that we five billion beings on this planet ultimately create our destiny, both inner and outer. When I need to take a trip, I ask myself first if I can walk or bicycle, and if not, I drive my electric car fueled by solar panels. If all of us try with our lives to minimize pollution and greenhouse gases, we will create a world where if things have to sizzle, they will do so more bearably, and we will be able to breathe healthily and freely. So whatever weather is in store for us this summer and in the coming winter, know that by practicing these five steps, you can l find peace within yourself that will also create an environment all will share in love.
www.directawakening.com
Dr. Stephen Ruppenthal is the author of The Path of Direct Awakening: Passages for Meditationand co-author of Eknath Easwaran’s The Dhammapada. Dr. Ruppenthal is an international workshop leader in passage meditation and in courses for those looking for end of life spiritual care and for the spiritual step component of twelve step programs. Visit Stephen’s work at www.directawakenings.com.
