How to hit pause, slow down, and think for a moment
Hit pause, slow down, and breathe for a moment. It can be helpful to take the time to hit pause, slow down, and breathe for a moment. Our days can get so chaotic that we feel like we have no chance to stop and gather our thoughts. But we can master the power of the pause in our lives. Catch your thoughts, acknowledge them and let them go. In this episode, Peter Russell talks about the art of slowing down and how we can practice this in our lives. If you're feeling like you've been in such a rush lately, this episode is right for you! Pause for a moment and listen.
Show Notes Links:
Learn more at:
https://www.peterrussell.com/index.php
Full Podcast Transcription:
Hit pause, slow down, and think for a moment
===
Peter Russell
===
[00:00:00] Host: Welcome to this episode of the today dreamer podcast. And thank you for being here in this moment with me and our lovely guest today, who is none other than Peter Russell. It's our second conversation. The first one was on letting go of the mind, and this one's more based on slowing down, slowing down the mind.
[00:00:25] So Peter is an author and a speaker, and he's written a book recently called letting go of nothing. Relax your mind and discover the wonder of your true nature. There'll be a link to Peter's book in the description, the show notes section, which I highly recommend you check out and in today's conversation, we'll be exploring one of the things we do on every podcast, which is just pausing, pausing for a moment and being with what is.
[00:00:58] So before we get into things, I'd like to invite you to deepen your connection to the show. If you've been listening for a while now, by clicking the subscribe button, if you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to hit the notification bell. And if you'd like to take things to the next level and you feel like you're getting something really valuable out of these conversations, please consider supporting the mindful media vibes that are radiating outwards from this space.
[00:01:28] By joining the today, dream a tribe over at patrion.com/today. Dreamer, this will give you the opportunity to pledge a small amount of support on a monthly basis in exchange for exclusive. Gifts and perks and surprises from my end. I'm not going to get too much into it, but definitely check that out@patrion.com forward slash today.
[00:01:54] Dreamer, you can also support the show by telling a friend about it or sending me a message of feedback or just to connect and say hi, I really appreciate that. And I feel motivated and supported whenever I receive a loving messages in that way. Also, uh, feel free to check out the audio only version if you haven't already.
[00:02:19] And if you're listening to the audio only version, feel free to engage with some educational, YouTube videos that I put out regularly as well. Okay. That's pretty much all there is to say, let's jump into this episode. As I like to do before the start of every episode, I'd like to invite you to pause for a moment just to pause from whatever's happening in your life.
[00:02:44] And take a mindful breath. Usually do this by as slow as possible, and as naturally as possible breathing in through the nose and into the belly, deep into the belly, pausing at the top, and just sitting in that space before gracefully, exhaling and pausing at the bottom as well. And when we drop into that space with one another, we will gently take off into our conversation and see what insights and knowledge and wisdom we can uncover.
[00:03:21] So invite everyone to gently close their eyes.
[00:03:27] Just the slowest naturally feels possible. Take in a really nice deep inhalation through the nose.
[00:03:53] take your time with it. And when you reach the top, take your mind just to pause for exhaling, just this gradually and gently.
[00:04:39] But, yeah. So just kind of this idea of slowing down, being present and allowing, allowing things to unfold. Um, based on, I want to say feeling, but I don't mean emotions. I kind of mean like an instinctual knowing, um, which, which direction to, whether it's as ego, whether it's a zag in that particular, um, moment in time.
[00:05:03] And it seems to be a lot clearer when I do that, but it seems. You know, there's this back and forth between remembering to slow down and being caught up in the, in the rush of life. Have you had, have you had similar experiences or have you come from oh,
[00:05:19] Guest: yes, yes, yes, yes. And, um, it's a challenge circuit challenge for me at times, like a whole culture is conditioning us to do and do more, do it faster and be more efficient.
[00:05:33] And, you know, I think these days, so many pressures on us to do things we get so caught up in it, in our busy-ness and where we're so busy, we just don't take time to pause and just notice how we are, how we're feeling. So I think the slowing down is, is really, really important. And it's not just slowing down physically, it's slowing our minds down because their minds, which are waiting, got to do this, gotta do that.
[00:06:00] It's the minds, which are sort of driving us forward. And so. And the slowing down. It's like, well, we started with that pause for me, that pausing is also pausing our thoughts, not just pausing our bodies, but pausing, pausing their thinking. Just whatever we're thinking. Just say, okay, not now later, maybe, but for now, I'm not going to follow you any longer.
[00:06:22] And as we do that, we just begin to slow down and I think you're right. We begin to the way I would phrase it, get in touch with our own innate wisdom, which is always there, which is more about, you know, what, what is the most appropriate thing to be doing right now, but all the time, they're grossed in our thinking and busy-ness that innate wisdom doesn't get a chance to shine through.
[00:06:47] And so, uh, following one thought and then this, and then. And by slowing down. Exactly. As you say, we begin to get in touch with that inner knowing that what's the most appropriate thing to do. And that's why I think it's, it really is valuable apart from the fact we're actually, um, not getting quite so stressed up when we're slowing down, we get so stressed by all the chasing things.
[00:07:10] So it's also a good antidote to the stress, slow down. Yeah.
[00:07:14] Host: They've been asking like, where am I rushing into anyways? Like, well, you know, you know, you get what I'm saying? Like, what's like if a fever in such a rush or even in the biggest perspective of things like, you know, sometimes we have these, these things that we want, that we see in the future that we kind of want to accomplish.
[00:07:35] You'll move towards. And I, and I feel as though, you know, these kinds of things are gonna come up naturally as well. Um, but it seems as though, well, there's no real rush. And if we step back for a moment, it. What's really going on here and taking a breath and then moving it's like, it's like rebuilding the muscle of being able to kind of move into our innate wisdom into that direction that, that may be presenting to us rather than just kind of mindlessly going in loops.
[00:08:14] Guest: Right. Right. And also so much of what goes through their mind is totally unnecessary. I mean, not to put down thick, every thinking is really valuable. It has its time.
[00:08:26] Host: I used to feel like it's a super power when I was young. Like, oh, I'm so analytical. I can, I can see things from so many from perspectives and that's a really good thing.
[00:08:34] And now I'm kind of seeing it as the. Well, I think it
[00:08:37] Guest: needs good in its own time and place. But what often happens is we get caught up in our imagination. We start imagining what might happen, how to cope with that. And we start planning stuff in our mind, which probably never comes about. Or we start thinking about what happens in your, oh, if only that would be better.
[00:08:55] So a lot of the thinking is actually not even necessarily in the first place, it says that's another value slowing down and pausing. The thinking is, we're just stepping out of this totally unnecessary things we get
[00:09:06] Host: caught up in. When do you think it is necessary to, when do you think the mind does kind of come into play in and when do you think we can really put the pedal down in, in that front?
[00:09:15] Um, with a, with a sense of, okay, this is flowing nicely rather than it being something that's taking away from the way I'm being.
[00:09:25] Guest: Um, I mean, take an example for myself. If I'm. You know, working on say that the design of a webpage, you know, on my own website, that there's a certain amount of intuition that's involved in just like artistic feel.
[00:09:41] But there's also a lot of logical thinking, okay. If I do that, this has to be done or that has to be done. And so the code has to look that way. And so on a particular task, the thinking is very, very necessary. And there's lots of tasks in our lives where, where the thinking is important. Particularly when we're planning, planning, what to do, what would have been planning a meal, something like that, planning what to eat, you know, it's important.
[00:10:04] Okay. What do I need? What have I got? What I need to go to the store
[00:10:07] Host: for anything. We started this, when that, when that line is crossed between kind of thinking, and then just ruminating into something like churning over and over.
[00:10:17] Guest: Right. I think it takes some self-awareness and self-reflection, I mean, some of, some of the time, um, When we're churning over and over, there's a sense of tension that gets created.
[00:10:30] And so if we, if we feeling the tension, that's a good time to say, hang on, let's stop. Is this thinking, is this thinking rarely, necessarily this moment? So noticing if there's any intention or particularly if there's an insistence to it, if it's like, oh God, yeah, this is really important. We've got to do this really important.
[00:10:50] Just pause and say, hang on. Is this really important? Do I really need to do this? Um, and I have, you know, a couple of questions I sometimes ask myself as a way of stepping back is, you know, if I'm thinking I've got to do something, got to get something or whatever it is go somewhere is to say, if I, if I did get this, would I really be happy content?
[00:11:15] And the answer is probably not. And then I'll ask the opposite question. If I don't do this or get this, can I still be happy? And the answer is always what of course. Hmm. So it's a way of stepping back and not being so caught up and absorbed in the question.
[00:11:31] Host: Yeah, that's interesting. So they're developing the sensitivity to the tension and then just kind of stepping back and just kind of contemplating a little bit about it.
[00:11:41] Do you have any other questions that if you uncover, this is something else to be curious about as might sound a little bit random with the direction we're currently heading, but it kind of let's, let's bypass the thinking and let's just go straight into it. I was thinking, I was feeling sorry into this question of what's your process for contemplation when you uncover a new insight that you haven't maybe come across before, from that particular perspective, do you have any questions you may ask yourself in that situation?
[00:12:14] Guest: Um, yes. I think, um, it is, is this new insight, is it more caring? Is it more compassion? Um, and that's usually a good sign it's coming from my own inner wisdom. Um, is it true? I just to step back and say, actually, is, is this, is this insight, you know, I can get carried away by it, you know, just, just to check in, is it true or am I getting off on some fantasy of myself?
[00:12:45] So those sorts of things I think are important. Yeah.
[00:12:49] Host: And do you spend, I know it's kind of like, I'm just kind of curious about more about, cause last time we spoke about, you know, your history and, and a couple of things that some beautiful experiences you've had in your past and where you got to be kind of into this position where we are now.
[00:13:08] Um, obviously we, we only kind of scratched the surface, but I was wondering a little bit more about, I'm just curious about the way in which you. You know, have your practice of presence. Now, it seems like it must be quite fluid. Like it's obviously intertwined into everyday life, but do you have like a structured practice that you play out, um, in the background of all of that?
[00:13:32] Guest: Uh, yes. In a way, I'm not sure that it's structured. I think this there's a couple of aspects to it. I mean, one, I have a sitting practice which is just sitting down usually for me around 20 minutes or so, just, you know, classic sort of quiet being quiet meditation. Um, just settling back into my own inner stillness and just, and just, just being there, being with that for awhile, which is really, really refreshing.
[00:14:03] And it gets me out of my head and then I have what we're doing with the pause thing at the beginning. I like to do. As many times, day as possible. I have notes. I leave around the house telling me to pause. I have to move them around because after a couple of days, I know where they are. We don't capture your evil.
[00:14:24] But then the pause in bit what we're saying in the beginning, first of all, you know, to stop what I'm doing and then to sit down or stand off a bit, just do it. I'll just do it standing where I am and just pause the thinking for a moment, just for a moment and just notice, how do I feel? And always when we pause, he's like, there's usually a sense of, there's a sense of ease.
[00:14:46] There's a sense of relief. There's a sense of coming home, coming back to myself and just to save that for, you know, it could be, anything could be 10 seconds, half a minute. It doesn't really matter. It's not about staying there for a long time. It's just like pausing and just coming back and just remembering, oh, that is.
[00:15:06] Quarter place inside, which feels much more like home. And just to touch into that as often as possible. I think the more I do that, the more motivation there is to do it more often. And also the more familiar it becomes just like, oh yes, I know you. I was like, yes, I know me. Um, yeah, it's lovely. It's a lovely thing to be doing it.
[00:15:31] Yeah.
[00:15:32] Host: Yeah. It sounds beautiful to sprinkle that throughout the day I have have that just kind of constantly coming up as a, as a practice. And it's almost like it blends into the way in which you live.
[00:15:46] Guest: Yeah.
[00:15:47] Host: I had, I had a thought recently and I was kind of preparing to go away and this little mini retreat, a couple of months back, and the thought was that you could, it seemed possible for the first time.
[00:16:01] Like I always kind of thought, you know, you're floating in and out of this. But I th I seems like that could be a space you could live in, because I feel like I've witnessed people living in that space before. And obviously there's a lot of practice that goes in and this kind of sprinkling throughout the day, you know, must've built up to something and I kind of thought, you know, maybe even aiming towards that, even if it wasn't something that I would get to, it would still be a beautiful thing to do because there'd be so much more presence.
[00:16:33] And then from that presence, you know, so many, so much beauty would be born because I'll just be there.
[00:16:43] Guest: And I think that's one of the paths to being there more, more frequently and more solidly is sort of, what's often called the progressive path. It just, you just gradually, it just gradually unfolds in your life little bit by little bit.
[00:16:59] I think that's the way it is for most people. You know, there's some people who have, you know, an amazing awakening, they completely let go and that's it they're there. But I think that's their one in a thousand defect for most of us, it is progressive path. And that's why some regular sort of practice just coming back touching in is really important.
[00:17:19] Host: Seems to me a big component of that, a component of that, that kind of, um, moving on to that path or that progression is kind of moving away from the seduction of different experiences and coming back within.
[00:17:37] Guest: Yeah. Yeah. And, and. That again is, you know, when we pause, I think we can, we can begin to see how it being seduced by staff.
[00:17:48] It gives us time, time to reflect. And there's so much, I mean, our whole society is geared up to seducers in one way or another into something, whether it was entertainment, work, whatever it is, something, whether we're being continually seduced in a way we're being seduced away from ourselves. And the spiritual work is actually what was it in one way or another to come back and reconnect with our real self, as opposed to we just take, I mean, everything is just taking us out into the world, into activity, into form.
[00:18:20] And even our thinking is taking us out into the world. And that's why the essence, I think, of the spiritual practice is pausing and then turning the attention was ed. And as we turn the attention within, we're going to say, we begin to notice this inner sense of I am this inner sense of being, which is always there.
[00:18:39] Most of the time, not even noticed because with our attention is on the outside. Um,
[00:18:46] Host: yeah. And it seems like if we try to do it, it's hard to just probably wouldn't be the right way to go to just kind of cut off everything. Um, intensely, like we said, maybe something. Yeah. Yeah. And then there's like this, there's this other kind of progressive route, which you've mentioned, but it seems like there's a dipping back in and out.
[00:19:08] And, um, a gradual kind of shift that takes place over, over, over some time, um, over continuous practice and, and effort. And maybe not even effort, maybe it's lack of effort in a sense.
[00:19:25] Guest: It's definitely I think a lack it's learning to let go of effort. I think that's an important part as we learn to let go of it,
[00:19:31] Host: but it's making the effort to do that in a sense as well.
[00:19:34] It's making the commitment, the commitment. Yeah. Maybe effort's not the right word. It's moving. It's directing yourself in that direction, having the
[00:19:42] Guest: intention to do it, but not putting effort into accomplishing the
[00:19:46] Host: agenda. Yeah. The efforts actually seems to be what we were talking about earlier about like the striving, this kind of almost like could be seen as forcing ourselves into something.
[00:19:58] Guest: Yup. Yup. Yup. Effort just tends to make the mind more. Ted's more active, more tight. And what we're talking about here is going in the opposite direction of allowing the mind to relax. You know, it's a bit like if you've got a textbook. You can't put effort into making it relax to just, you know, just get screwed up.
[00:20:18] But if you just notice the tension in the muscle and be with it often, it just begins to unwind to its own accord. And I think it's the same with our minds. They, we just let it would just be with it. They, they want our minds want to settle down and actually, if we stop fueling the thoughts, then we can just begin to settle down naturally.
[00:20:37] Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
[00:20:41] Host: So I was hoping we could touch on some of your other interests and I know that you've done a lot of work in, or you've, you know, science's caught, caught your attention in this lifetime and, um, you're interested in, in space and you've, you've done a lot of talks around evolution as well, and I find your ideas to be fascinating, especially, um, what you've shared around.
[00:21:11] The way we've come into being and the way the direction or what, what seems to be the way that we're heading or what you've, what you're feeling into in that respect. I wonder if you could share a little bit about that and, you know, see if we could even tie that up with what we were just talking about in some way would be interesting.
[00:21:35] Guest: I think it all ties up when you say, um, you know, how I see how we've, how we've come here, which, which aspects were you thinking of pointing towards
[00:21:48] Host: any that may come to mind initially for you or, or to your too hard or whatever kind of arises within you? And I say that.
[00:21:56] Guest: Okay.
[00:22:01] Well, I think taking the bigger picture, I think the fundamental. Goal of all beings is to survive. It's that simple. I mean, life wants to survive that if you think whatever an organism does in one mode that it's doing it, it's feeding, it's sheltering, it's procreating, it's running away from predators, whatever it is, it's doing it in order to survive.
[00:22:28] So an organism's sole purpose really is to survive. And that's, that's true of us as well. Basically, most of what we do is, you know, looking after this body or taking care of our social environment, whatever we're doing things to keep the body survive. And if we're, if everything is okay in our environment, if there are no threats and our needs are satisfied, we feel okay.
[00:22:54] Basically, we feel okay inside. And that's what I call it. Our natural mind and natural state of mind is actually one of contentious. Yeah. That's how we feel when everything is okay. When things aren't okay. When there is some danger, some threat to our safety or survival, then we feel discontent quite naturally.
[00:23:13] And we do things in order to remedy the situation and come back to feeling content. And that's why it's often said that the fundamental drive of all human beings is to be happy. Basically what we're looking for, whether we call it happiness or inner peace or peace of mind or joy, whatever we're looking for a better state of mind, and that's completely natural.
[00:23:39] That's, that's how real bottom line we think the bottom line is how you're doing financially, but that's just a means to satisfy the inner bottom line, which is, am I feeling okay? That's what we're looking at for the world is to come back to feeling okay. Now, most of the time, the discontented. We feel is self-created, we're imagining something that might go wrong or something we like, we might news or something, but we're creating discontent in our mind.
[00:24:12] And then we go about trying to ease that discontent by doing something in the world. And so we think, you know, I'm not feeling content, therefore I need to do something, get something, buy something, go somewhere, have a conversation with someone about something. Sometimes, sometimes that is the right thing to do.
[00:24:32] But a lot of the time we're trying to ease. We're creating discontent in ourselves and then not recognize we've created that discontent. We go out into the world looking for ways to feel better again. And I think that's, that's fundamentally where, uh, as society, all societies that I can think of human societies, I'm not sure about some of the.
[00:24:56] Indigenous peoples, but I think most societies in the developed world, we're continually chasing things in the world in order to looking for contentment. And, you know, we may find some temporary contentment week. We get something, we feel, you know, buy a new jacket or something and we feel good. And we think it's the buying that we think it's buying the jacket.
[00:25:19] That's made us feel good, but in a way it's not a tool it's like we've created a discontent. You know, I don't have this piece of clothing I want. And so when we get it, we've stopped creating that bit of discontent. And this is what, um, spiritual tensions called Samsung Sala, which literally means to wander on endlessly.
[00:25:42] We wander on embassy for one chasing one thing to another thing, to another thing. And they all just bring some, you know, not they, all, some of them bring some temporary satisfaction. Some of them being no. Satisfaction whatsoever, but this is why our attention is so caught up in the material water. This is how we've come to be in this world where we are so busy chasing things the whole time, why we're in this materialist culture, which is continually, you know, misusing the environment, taking from the environment, really sporting our chances of survival.
[00:26:22] I think it all comes back to this, um, erroneous way of thinking that we've got halted. But
[00:26:30] Host: in some sense, I think I've heard you share before. We're kind of, and I kind of feel this way as well. We're kind of, everything's perfect in every way. And where we are right now is exactly where we're meant to be.
[00:26:45] And everything that's happened has happened in the way that it was meant to, instead of like all we're in a place that's so wrong, right. Because it seems like, although there may be so many things that seem to be on one side to be, um, dark in a way of putting it. There's also an equal amount of light.
[00:27:07] And it depends on your perspective, I guess.
[00:27:12] Guest: Yes. Um, I don't like to use the terms meant to be that implies in some sort of, um, organizing purpose or something, just to say that this is the way things are, this is the way things are not to get upset about does not, not to stop blaming people in the past. I haven't got things involved.
[00:27:36] It's like, okay, this is how things are to, to except the present moment. So much of the time people complain about the present. And it's actually no point whatsoever and complaining about things. It's like, okay, if we don't like how things are, let's get down and work out how to improve those.
[00:27:57] Host: There seems to be a sense of perfection about life.
[00:28:01] And when I say meant to be, I guess it just seems perfect in a sense, uh, I think we've talked about in the past, it
[00:28:13] Guest: depends. I think, you know, for us who are the more privileged members of the human race, we can feel that way. I think it's hard for the people who are stabbing on the poverty line or rarely sick with things they are so caught up in gross by what they are facing.
[00:28:36] It doesn't seem perfect for them.
[00:28:39] Host: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I can definitely feel into that. Um, so from. Someone like that perspective. Do you feel as though, you know, it may be quite difficult to, to come to that sense of acceptance yes. To, to come to that sense of peace and realizing that they do have also the conditions for happiness all around them.
[00:29:13] Guest: Yes. Um, I don't know. Yes. The way I see it, it's not so much. We have the conditions for happiness. We have the mind that creates unhappiness. And so the condition for happiness is not finding the right things in the world to make us happy, but is stepping back from the thinking that's creating
[00:29:35] Host: unhappiness.
[00:29:36] Um, we've got, we've got what we need though, to reach that.
[00:29:41] Guest: I mean, we, you know, we, at the more privileged people certainly have that and we have, we're learning a lot from each other. That's what I think is so significant about these times we're learning, you know, right now we're talking about it and you know, some people will watch this and hopefully some of them will glean something from it, which will be useful in their own journey.
[00:30:01] And they share it with other people and, you know, I'm learning from people the whole time. So I think collectively, we are learning about this, very, this thing of just really letting go and coming back to ourselves, coming back to that inner being. And the more we do that, the more it's going to, you know, influence other people and spread out into the world.
[00:30:22] So that gives me hope.
[00:30:25] Host: Yeah. It almost seems like it's, it's, it's a significant thing to mention, but there's this balance between. Feeling into the suffering that others are experiencing, which can be difficult to do in one sense, if we're not directly in touch with them. But I think through to the suffering that we go through, we're able to tap into that and feel what's happening collectively in our own way.
[00:31:02] Guest: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:31:04] Host: And then there's also the holding that and being with everything that's beautiful at the same time, because it's, I don't know. It still feels like there is, there is so much, like I said, I had an, a dark and light is a strange way to put it, but it seems like there's, there's both happening at the same time.
[00:31:28] And it's like a balancing act of being with it all.
[00:31:32] Guest: Yeah. Yeah. And also cause you know, even in our own lives, what we see as dark and what we see as light is it's our interpretation of things. In some ways I think, you know, the world, is it dark and light where the world is the way it is. And then we interpreted or judge it according to our own perspective, our own needs.
[00:31:56] So we, things that are somehow getting it out a way we sort of judges dark and things, which are really supporting us. We judges light, but I don't, I don't think there's light. And my feeling is there's enlightened, dark in the world as there's actions, which are maybe not so helpful to other people and actions, which are more helpful.
[00:32:17] But you know, when we put that label on it, that's something that's a judgment coming from SLS. Yeah.
[00:32:23] Host: No, I definitely agree with you. That's why I was kind of hesitant to use those terms, but I was kind of reaching for a better way to express myself, I guess. Yeah. Okay. That's. I think I've learned a lot just from that little segment.
[00:32:35] So I appreciate that. Um, yeah, this is another thought and feeling I've had, and it's, it's the one that sometimes I feel as though collectively, or if a portion of us were to go back in a sense, we would be moving forward. This idea of going back to the land and maybe decoupling a little bit from technology and finding other ways of being that maybe are outside of what we've grown up within and what's normal.
[00:33:11] Um, yeah, but it seems like there's, there's this, this exponential curve that we spoke about last time, this idea that things are speeding up exponentially because of this positive feedback loop or a feedback loop of some sort. And then, um, That's happening on all different fronts in all different directions.
[00:33:31] We spoke about, you know, technology as that develops and, um, you know, we move, we propel into that direction and things just speed up and that they will continue to do so it seems. And then with the awakening of consciousness, that's, that's kind of where the awakening or the collective awakening, that seems to be a thing as well, that's going on so that all these things are kind of happening simultaneously and it's yeah.
[00:34:02] It, especially with the recent pandemic and everything that, that, um, brought into being, I guess, and the experiences people went through through that. And there's, this definitely seems like since the last time we spoke pre pre pandemic and now wherever we're at at the moment, It seems like there's definitely been an acceleration from that point.
[00:34:27] And you kind of mentioned it before that as well. So I wanted to just kind of see if you had any thoughts on where things were going and what you'd have to say about that, obviously. Um, just from a broad sense and what you're feeling into and, um, anything you had to share about the exponential curve would be, I think very beneficial.
[00:34:49] It'd be very interesting anyways.
[00:34:52] Guest: Yes. Um, I mean, everyone's talking now about, you know, as a pace of change, it's been springing up since day one. Um, and the reasons
[00:35:01] Host: you feel like there's been a day one,
[00:35:04] Guest: um, well you can say in the beginning of the universe, or, you know, you can see biological evolution is speeding up.
[00:35:13] It took billions of neurons. But the simple cells do reach the stage of becoming multi-cellular organisms. Like two or three cells connected together, fairly simple sponsors that took about 3 billion years for them to happen. And then they stopped. We both do more complex creatures, more complex. And you know, we, the human being is our lifetime is 1% of 1% of 1%.
[00:35:41] 1% of our sister. We are just literally blink in time. In fact, if you take out a whole lifetime, take our lifetime and how long it takes to blink, then that moment of uplink is our, is our lifetime in the life of the youth, in the life of the universe. So we are just, just that. We had just a momentary flash our life, and that's, you know, things have been going faster and faster.
[00:36:10] With, with humanity, you know, maybe it was some time ago, maybe a thousand million years ago, we probably started developing. It looks like, you know, early, early tools and things we'd have 3 million years ago. But then in agriculture, about 10, five years before that agriculture is about 10,000 years ago and the industrial revolution was 200 5300 years ago.
[00:36:36] You know, the 20th century, if beginning getting computers was only really 50, 60 years ago, the internet was 30 years ago. Now this speeding up is because each stage of development actually makes it easier for the next stage creates possibilities for the next stage to develop. So you're the industrial revolution, really, whatever that was a say, 300 years ago, when we began that gave us the technology.
[00:37:08] Machines, how to, how to use machines to make things it's set up the technology of mass production, mass distribution. So when we started building computers, we didn't have to go back to the beginning. We could use our understanding of how to manufacture or understanding of how to distribute. We could use that.
[00:37:27] So computers jumped on the bandwagon and now as we start moving into, you know, areas of artificial intelligence, et cetera, we don't have to reinvent computers. We jump onto where the computers have got us to, and that moves us faster. So this moving faster and faster is an inevitable part of evolution.
[00:37:46] It's inevitable. There's no stopping it. People say, well, can't, we slow things down. There's no way it's in a way. It's, it's a consequence of creativity of the life being creative of our own being creative one where I started
[00:38:01] Host: by taking a breath, slowing things down.
[00:38:04] Guest: Yes in, uh, in our life, but we're not slowing down the pace of technology we're slowing ourselves down, which is a really important way for us to live in a world that's going faster and faster and faster.
[00:38:18] I was getting burnt out. Basically creativity breeds more creativity. And so that's why things keep on going faster.
[00:38:28] Host: Do you feel like there may be a burning out of the, of the system itself?
[00:38:32] Guest: Yeah, I think so. Yes. I think that's beginning to happen or has been happening. We're in it, it's a bit like the whole story of the frog in boiling water, or if you heat the water up the frog, doesn't it doesn't jump out.
[00:38:43] People drop the frog into boiling water. It'll jump out of Egypt. If you start to heat it up, it will sit there as it gets hotter and hotter and hotter, and it dies. And I think if I look at my own life, I look at how things were in my life 50 years ago and how they are now. It's like my God, how things have changed, how much faster this.
[00:39:03] How good. It would be legendary. They were back then. And yet the way things are, seems normal. And yet 50 years ago, if I was devoted to this life now, I think my God, how do people cope?
[00:39:16] Host: Would you be jumping out of that water?
[00:39:19] Guest: Uh, yeah. Yes. I probably
[00:39:21] Host: would be except that, and coming to a state of being with it,
[00:39:26] Guest: um, I, that was packed with hypotheticals here I am and doing my best to not get too caught up in it all.
[00:39:37] Host: Yeah. How do you do that?
[00:39:40] Guest: Well, I think what we're talking about is taking time to come back, to come back to self, to reconnect with what is true and valuable and herself and not be so taken over by all the seductions society has its ways of manipulating us to come back to our own inner truth, you know,
[00:40:01] Host: Yeah, there seems to be, I don't know the way I'm looking at things.
[00:40:04] At least there's like two perspectives too, but one part of it is the coming back and the returning and the, and the kind of the beingness. And obviously everything is all connected up. But the other part seems to be almost like, um, the stepping away from like, um, it seems like when I pick up my phone, for example, I'm sucked into like a vortex and something's going on and it's definitely not a state of being, it's like something else.
[00:40:38] It's almost like, um, it's like a different version of reality. And that happens with all screens most of the time. Yeah. And I think like starving myself from that side of things and then coming into a state of being this because I've created, I've created the conditions to me. A lot easier for myself rather than trying to, you know, go both ways at once.
[00:41:05] If that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Do you find yourself kind of taking detoxes from technology and moving into nature? I mean, it seems like you probably live in nature, but I do,
[00:41:17] Guest: but now I find myself thinking I should doing it occasionally, but I shouldn't, but I would like to do it more than I do.
[00:41:27] Host: Yeah. We could probably always do it more.
[00:41:31] Yeah. Yeah. Uh, well, thank you so much for sharing. This has been good. So I just, yeah, I'm, I'm kind of curious about what your, what your days look like. Like what do you do or what do you get up to? And, um, I'm kind of, I've got this curiosity around your life, Peter.
[00:41:47] Guest: Um, my days are pretty boring. I, I get up, uh, I have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, depending on my mood.
[00:42:02] Um, and then I just, I spent probably half an hour moving into the day. Um, I meditate a bit, I do some journaling and then maybe make myself a smoothie or something. And then just gradually, you know, start moving into seats. I start just, I always just like to check the news for a minute, just to check that the world is still there, but I don't find this editing a particular interest these days.
[00:42:34] And then just the mundane things. I like to just sort of go into my emails and make sure there's nothing urgent that needs attending to, and then I'd probably do a bit, a little bit of stretching exercises. And then depends what I'm working on. You know, whatever project I'm working on. If I'm writing something else to think, okay, I'll pick up something.
[00:42:57] And my creative working time, whether it's planning a talk or writing something, whatever it is, that's best for me until about the middle of middle of the afternoon. So I tend to be working like that, not hard, but just whatever projects I've got. But that's my project time, um, who was the middle of the afternoon.
[00:43:19] And then probably if there's things that need doing on the property, you do something there. Um, often meditator game later, early evening, and then cooks and food and hanging out, maybe chat with friends and go back to bed.
[00:43:34] Host: Good day to me. Do you find like the, um, the mundane nest or the, you said it seems boring, do you think all that becomes exciting when you're more present or at least like the quality becomes really.
[00:43:48] Guest: And of course, I mean the more present we are, the more in touch with now, with what's going on with only in the world, around us, but within ourselves when we're not so distracted by all that thinking. So yes, the more present we are, the more we can, I would say appreciate what's going on. Appreciate the experience, the process.
[00:44:11] Yeah.
[00:44:11] Host: Yeah. How did you in the early days kind of began to decouple yourself from the fruits of, of, of your action?
[00:44:22] Guest: Oh, um, couple of bits between all of that. Um, again, I think meditation meditation was really the way just be able to step back from step back in, back into myself, into the present moment and see just really to see.
[00:44:47] My, my inner well-being came from within me, rather than from what I did in the world. And just having that experience like, ah, this feels good. This is what I'm looking for in the world. And it's right here in me. I just need to slow down as we've been talking about from the very beginning and slow down step back from the thinking process and just notice how it feels to just be like, ah, here I am here I am in this moment.
[00:45:20] And just to, just to relish that really just to embellish it because it's such a lovely quality,
[00:45:28] Host: it seems a life full of these beautiful small moments and appreciating them is like a beautiful thing. I'm just kind of jumping back to the comment you made about light and dark and. Kind of your perspectives on, you know, everything seems to be just the way in which, where we're looking at it, especially when it comes to light and dark, this idea of, uh, focusing, inwards and trusting, or having faith that, that will change everything outwardly as well, and, and be able to kind of radiate a Burgess, landed on my window.
[00:46:08] So I'd be able to kind of just radiate outwards and, and affect the people around you in a beautiful way is, but it's, it's almost as though we, we see that playing out, like we see that process playing out, but it's still kind of mysterious and invisible to us. Do you
[00:46:27] Guest: find that? Yes. Um, I don't find it mysterious, certainly invisible because there's not something that's material, tangible attack.
[00:46:38] So it's not visible in the way that, you know, other processes are visible, but I think it just very, very straight forward to the truth of life. If I'm, if I'm feeling frazzled and angry and upset and tense, then the way I'm going to interact with people is going to reflect that. And they're going to pick up a bit of that tension.
[00:47:00] Um, and that's, so it spreads. And if it's the opposite, if I'm feeling at peace or centered in myself and not, you know, judging people or getting angry at them, and that, that sets of me being more at peace, other people are going to feel that, and that's going to the result is they're going to feel some of that.
[00:47:21] So I think it's just a completely natural thing that how we are spreading. To other people, whether it's good or whether, you know, uptight tense or whether it's relaxed and composed, whatever it is, is going to influence other people just from normal human interaction. So I don't think there's anything mysterious about it.
[00:47:42] Okay. I
[00:47:42] Host: think that, yeah, definitely. This is a good point there, I guess when you're all deep within the chaos of everything else we've been talking about distraction and, um, you know, the seduction of these experiences, it may seem, it seem a bit more mysterious because you're kind of a bit more out of touch with your own inner stillness.
[00:48:02] Yeah. Yeah. There's this set seems like, again, we're talking about these feedback loops again. Cause it seems like that would feed back into you again. I mean ritual even more and that would just keep going and yeah. And that in itself may be something that's a contributing factor to yes. Great awakening.
[00:48:23] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's, it's just an interesting thought and interesting to feel into what's going on in this moment as well. Um, yeah, I, I, yeah, this seems like the topic of our chats, almost being feedback loops in a sense. Um, but we've, we've covered a lot of ground. I was, I was wondering, um, this kind of feeds into something that I've been thinking about a lot and working on quite a bit, and this idea of, I really wanted to hear your take with your scientific background and your background, um, with meditation and, and even the background of our previous discussion, this idea of vibrations, um, and, um, the word vibes has been thrown around quite a bit.
[00:49:12] Um, and that's kind of like, uh, it's been used in different ways and I wanted to see what your thought on vibrations were. Um, cause we were almost talking about something. It's almost like you could even see that as a meeting, a certain vibration
[00:49:31] Guest: neurotic. I don't like the word myself.
[00:49:35] Host: Tell me why.
[00:49:36] Guest: Yeah.
[00:49:37] It's one. I believe it's, um, it's a misappropriation. It's a misappropriation from science, from physics into a more interpersonal social realm. Physics, a vibration is an oscillation of something moving backwards and forwards. Whether it's, you know, a tuning fork vibrating, or, you know, the earth vibrating because of earthquakes or whatever it is, or, you know, light is a vibration.
[00:50:05] So in physics, almost every vibration runs through everything and it's an actual alternating phenomenon. Then we use the word so loosely in this sort of psycho-social realm to mean something. You know, something else is going on. I'd much rather people use the more specific words if they say, oh, it's, you know, it's your vibration?
[00:50:30] What do you actually mean by that? Yeah. Using the word vibration is a sort of get out of jail or somebody out of jail free card it's to sort of get out of a difficulty of communicating card is vibrations. It's all vibrations. It isn't because we're not, we're not
[00:50:46] Host: actually doing, we'll definitely be used in that sense.
[00:50:49] I feel like, although you don't like, and I feel like it's actually quite interesting that it has been used in so many different ways because there's more than just that way.
[00:50:59] Guest: Yes. But then it gets confusing because we think we're talking about physical stuff and we're not, we're not talking about vibrations themselves.
[00:51:07] We're talking about a feeling of connection or something like that. Do you
[00:51:11] Host: feel about vibrations themselves though? And this idea of. The first thing that comes to mind and how the two might cross over might be something like I've heard something along the lines of when there's a certain, your heart emits a certain vibration, vibration, or frequency of something.
[00:51:31] I'm not sure if I'm using the right language here. Maybe you correct me on that. You can probably correct me on that. Yeah. But the sense of electromagnetic negative electromagnetic field that, um, you're being gives off, or is there some kind of energetic vibration that is linked with another person?
[00:51:51] Guest: Um, I, don't not in, not in that sense.
[00:51:54] This is where we fuse physics with a, with a psychological experience. Now there is stuff around the heart, the electromagnetic field, which the HeartMath people have been exploring, which is. It's an electromagnetic field, which you can detect scientifically, but you know, the vibration of that electromagnetic field is something that that's just, that's not something you pick up from another person.
[00:52:23] So when we're talking about, when we're talking about this, I'm sorry to go on about this, but I think it's important.
[00:52:29] Host: It's interesting.
[00:52:30] Guest: We, we don't, it stops us actually thinking about what is going on. It's like saying it's vibration or it's energy. Just isn't saying anything. I'd much rather when people say, I feel except supposing someone says, I feel your vibration.
[00:52:49] Okay. What I want to know is what are you actually feeling? You're not feeling I'm not feeling a vibration. You may be feeling more at peace or more upset. That's what you should tell me is like, when I'm with you, I feel say I feel more. Instead of saying, I feel your vibration is that when I'm with you, I feel more calm.
[00:53:11] Okay. That is a true statement of what you're feeling. I think that's what we should do is, is actually describe our experience rather than lumping it under this term vibration, which we don't really know what we
[00:53:27] Host: mean. Um, yeah. I couldn't agree more with you. It can be this kind of airy fairy, fluffy term that's thrown around and yeah.
[00:53:36] Yeah, for sure. And I know the younger people mean it in a sense like, you know, this is, I don't know, one way to use it as like, when you're listening to different types of music, there'll be a spectrum of feeling energy, uh, atmosphere that's created. And you know, it's got a certain vibe, if you will. Yeah.
[00:54:04] So that's kind of one way people use it. Yes. Yeah. It's language is an interesting thing cause we're kind of, we're reducing a lot of things to language a lot of the time aren't we?
[00:54:18] Guest: Yeah. I think that's a, that's a legitimate way of using the word. We're not, when you say, you know, I liked the vibe of this music, so we're not claiming there's something ISA Terek going on in a vibration or with energy talking about our personal response.
[00:54:36] I like the, but that's a different
[00:54:38] Host: thing. And then there's something cause just fits in so many different areas. Just find it fascinating how it fits into music. It fits also into, into language. Like we were just talking about, you know, if I'm speaking in a certain way, that vibration is picked up by your, your, your vibration pick her up.
[00:54:58] So over here, You know, something happens within from that sound like something new is created. I guess it's like a remix of old elements. It's creativity in a sense. And there's, you know, ancient chance that I find fascinating where they've, they've created sounds the link between vibration and feeling. I think there is a link there and it is interesting, but I know what you mean about people throwing around the term really loosely.
[00:55:30] Um,
[00:55:30] Guest: th they mean something by it, but if you ask them, they have no idea. I never found any.
[00:55:36] Host: And it's interesting saying things, just speaking things that, that, yeah. Almost like a repetitive regurgitation function or speaking things from a place. Not really just, just to feel the space and just saying things.
[00:55:51] Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any, I I'd had like 15 insight and vibration itself that you might be able to share about, you know, some people say, you know, everything's vibration, um, heard that thrown around a lot as well. And
[00:56:06] Guest: well, it's true in physics that, um, it's also, it's also nation. If everything, every, every interaction, there's some form of oscillation there and that's the mathematics of it.
[00:56:23] It comes down to very basic equations, which are, which are oscillations. So you can describe almost everything. I won't say everything because in a moment I'll think of an exception, but you can describe almost everything in terms of a mathematical oscillation. That's how. Hm. It doesn't mean it's actually necessarily the physical happening, but the equations are all monocle wave equations at the very basics, the wave equations.
[00:56:52] So in that sense, oscillation plays a fundamental role in physics. And then people say, oh, therefore, everything is vibration. It's like, it's true that everything in the material world can be described in terms of oscillations. But then people jump from that into some statement about reality and consciousness and how I'm feeling and all that stuff, which is totally
[00:57:19] Host: invalid.
[00:57:21] That little bridge is where the care needs to be given.
[00:57:24] Guest: And as I say, I'm not, I'm not saying there aren't these experiences of feeling some connection or whatever it is, but let's describe it in terms of our actual experience, rather than using some scapegoat term, which we don't understand.
[00:57:40] Host: Yeah, I find, like I said earlier, I just find it a really fascinating, um, kind of crevice to open up and look into and, and explore, I guess.
[00:57:50] Yeah. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on vibration. Um, yeah, I thought you might be a good person to ask for that. Would you ever a little, tell me a little bit about your new book, so letting go of nothing, relax your mind and discover the wonder of your true nature. I'm sure it's got its true in that book.
[00:58:08] You're going to share a lot about what we've been talking about today, but yeah. Tell me a bit
[00:58:12] Guest: about, quite a bit. Um, it's a book I've been wanting to write for many years and probably wasn't ready to write it until this year or last year and it's about letting go, but it's more than that. It's really a summation of my.
[00:58:34] Um, discoveries and learnings about the nature of consciousness and the nature, the value of letting go as part of the spiritual work. And it's really what I gleaned from my own life. It's not a book that references other people or other teachings. It's just, it's based on my experiences with my stories of how to, how to let go, which we always find so difficult.
[00:59:00] And what the essence of the book is. I reframe letting go as letting in and letting be usually think of letting go, is trying to get rid of some experience with getting rid of some thought. And my approach is no, instead of pushing things away, what, what it is we want to let go of let in the experience of holding on let in, what are the feelings here what's going on, what's going on in your mind.
[00:59:25] And as we do that, we can begin to, it begins to release its own accord. Um, It gets into, you know, some of the stuff we've been talking about, but also the nature of ego, the nature of self, the nature of love and kindness and the
[00:59:42] nature
[00:59:43] Host: of love. That sounds beautiful.
[00:59:45] Guest: Yeah. Um, which is I think our true nature, um, when we're not caught up in our thinking, all that stuff we've been talking about before, when you, when you come back to that space of space of silence inside, you are loving this.
[01:00:02] So, so I look at that and how we, how we get caught up in the world. Some of the things we'll be talking about today, um, and the subtitle sort of also says it all ready, relax your mind. That's the key thing. Let your thinking mind, relax. And then you just discover the wonder of who you really are, this incredible conscious view.
[01:00:26] Host: Do you feel like maybe someone reading this material. It would help them kind of connect a few dots within their own life and, you know, yeah. It's a beautiful thing.
[01:00:40] Guest: The first thing I've done of this nature and my other books have been more sort of about the world in one way or another, you know, evolutionary was talking about other things.
[01:00:50] This is the first book comes out, which is really about spiritual awakening. And I might my personal take on spiritual awakening. Hmm.
[01:01:00] Host: And how can people get a copy? Check it out. I'm going to leave some links, but, and I know maybe see your website, but just knowing your websites. One really cool thing. You can check out how old you are in days.
[01:01:11] I don't know if that's still on there, but that was cool. Okay. Yeah, that's still
[01:01:14] Guest: there. Um, it won't be, it'll be available soon. What I noticed about you on Amazon? It just not actually is published on August the eighth. No, August the 10th. Um, but I know a lot of people are pre-ordering it on Amazon? Um, I, I hear from their sales figures from that publishers.
[01:01:32] So Amazon or wherever you like to buy books, um, online or support your local bookstore, as I say in Australia, um, if it's published in the us in August the 10th, it's usually about four to five weeks later, it'll be published in bookstores. It probably on Amazon Australia, because it takes time to get into the store.
[01:01:55] So it's probably going to be mid-September. So
[01:01:58] Host: probably, yeah, this interview probably won't be out for a little while, so they would probably be good timing when it comes out. Yeah.
[01:02:04] Guest: Because they have to, they have to ship the books physically they'd have to get more the shirts, get them over there, get them out from the faders.
[01:02:13] So it's usually about, say it, say a month or five weeks, maybe six weeks, then it should be valuable.
[01:02:19] Host: Yeah. Awesome. I'm just conscious of time and I don't want to kind of run this to date. I do have one other kind of question, but I can always save it for next. I was just wondering how you're feeling with time at the moment
[01:02:32] Guest: should be backing up and give me the question.
[01:02:34] I'm not trying to take the question out and save it. Yeah, yeah,
[01:02:36] Host: yeah. Oh, it's like, you know, it's, it's this idea of, um, it's dancing around what w what we've been talking about with the idea of, uh, comfort and discomfort, and almost like our threshold for, for discomfort. And are you the way in which that we're used to being in comfort seems to kind of stunt growth or limit limit expansion.
[01:03:00] Just want to see what you feel about that.
[01:03:03] Guest: Um, I had a bit more, not quite sure what you're pointing to set a bit more
[01:03:10] Host: well. Um, I think we've spoken in the past, around this idea of sitting with a certain pain that may arise, whether it's emotional or physical and almost diving into it instead of running away from it.
[01:03:22] Um, yeah.
[01:03:26] Guest: Yeah. So that. I said, let it go as, let him hear and let him be. And that's the end of when we, when we got discovered that we tend to push it away and don't like, discuss it. We don't want you, whether it's pain or some distress or discomfort, it's not pleasant. That's what we call it. Discomfort.
[01:03:47] We're not comfortable with it. And so what we want to do is get rid of it. And what I found is that the discomfort is actually, whatever it is is, is some cold for a change because a physical discomfort is the body saying, Hey, there's something up here, tension. Or if it's having a discomfort in terms of a relationship with a person or communication is like, okay, attention things.
[01:04:16] There's something that needs tending to. And so that's why I say if there's discomfort, let it in what we tend to do. I same. Cause we don't like it. We push it. But then editing. And usually what we do, we find it isn't as uncomfortable as we expected. Um, part of the discomfort is actually a resistance to noticing it.
[01:04:40] And so it's, you're saying right at the beginning of this talk is letting in the field. If it's discomfort, it's like, there's always going to be a feeling in the body somewhere. There's going to be some sensation somewhere, either in a physical body or more subtle feelings. Notice what's there in terms of a feeling, because that will be the clue to what is going on because your body is telling you something has a, body's telling you the triggers in a way, and by tuning into it, you can see what it's pointing towards.
[01:05:13] And I find that really good, particularly in terms of social, personal things, where I feel some discomfort going on, it's like a sit down. I'm like, I feel into it fake. Uh, that's what it's about. So it will reveal itself. So that's why I say, be, be with the discomfort. Don't try to push away, be with it because that will be your teacher.
[01:05:40] Host: That's a beautiful message to end with. Thank you so much for agreeing to chat Peter today and hopefully, yeah. I believe this school helps some people out and, and yeah, it would be nice to maybe even touch base again in another year or two. I dunno. Well, yeah,
[01:05:55] Guest: things are always moving on with me. I hope.
[01:05:58] Host: Thank you so much for tuning into this episode with Peter Russell. Hopefully there's more to come in the future that I really enjoy conversations with. Peter has that always thought provoking. Afterwards always give me plenty to reflect on. I hope that this conversation has had the same effect on you.
[01:06:16] If you are getting something valuable from the conversations, and you'd like to take things to the next level and deepen your connection, then please consider joining the today. Dream a tribe over@patrion.com forward slash today. Dreamer and depending on the pledge level, there's certain perks available, including guided meditations and exclusive podcasts, special video content and monthly holding or held space Hangouts with a supportive community of like-minded individuals.
[01:06:52] Thank you so much for tuning in and will catch you in the next episode, BOL.