In Tibetan, sentient beings, conscious creatures that can have both positive and negative experiences, are called drowa, translated as ‘migrating creatures.’ That means we are always in a state of transition. We travel, we move, and we change.

Our body is in constant flux: from birth, old cells are always dying and being replaced with new cells, or regenerating.

Psychologically, we change. Our thoughts come and go. and emotions come and go, too, like waves in the sea. We can cry one moment and laugh the next. We are continually being drawn forward toward an unknown future.

This thought can be both disconcerting and liberating. On the one hand, humans like stability and security. Change can bring suffering. We don’t want to age and die! (Although death, too, can be seen as a transition.)

But without change, nothing new could ever happen, and we could never be any different than we are at this moment.

What doesn’t change? Change. Change is the one constant. Therefore, to feel more grounded, we need to become witnesses to change and find a focal point in the present moment. That focal point is whatever is happening in the now, which is also always changing! But when we focus on what is happening now, as each moment slips into the next one, we take the path of least resistance. We are no longer pushing forward or going against the natural flow of life by looking backward.

We stay with reality.

Although our bodies change from moment to moment, we become more stable and grounded when we bring our attention to our breath and feelings in the body. The breath and the body are always in the now. Only our thoughts provide the illusion of a past and a future. The present is the only time in which we truly exist.

When we feel discomfort, we may want to distract ourselves and turn away from our often challenging thoughts and emotions by looking backward or forward or engaging in miscellaneous activities. Of course, making plans and having memories are natural and useful at times. But the more we give in to constant distractions, the more unbalanced we become. We lose our footing, sense of agency, and control.

One way to feel more grounded and secure amid the constant change of life is through mindful breathing.

What is mindful breathing? It is simply paying attention to our breathing: just becoming aware of the breath by focusing on either the place under the nostrils where the air goes in and out, on the chest, or the belly as it rises and falls. From there, attention can expand to include whatever we experience with our senses.

In this way, we can accept change without becoming swept away by it. We can work with change, and become freer and more creative.

“If we are not in a state of transition, we could not talk about transformation. Our life would be a closed book. But according to the Buddhist teachings, our lives are not closed books because of this constant forward movement. If we feel that we are stuck, that is only our misunderstanding of what is really going on, for something is always happening even if we do not notice it.”

~ Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche

Via “Provoke Wisdom”