Move like a jellyfish

I was really struggling with how to talk about my intention for 2021. The idea of saying out loud that I intended to “do less” didn’t sound right (but that’s where I started), even if the idea is that I need to do less and to be more. What I really wanted to communicate is that to have more impact, I will become more focused and intentional for the clients with which I have the capacity to engage.

Moving forward movement isn’t always… well… forward

When I am struggling with big ideas, one of my go-to tools is guided visualization. And as it happens, I had registered for an intention-setting workshop with an amazing trusted yogi who teaches Yoga Nidra. The first night, in my mediation, I immediately began to envision a jellyfish, and this incredibly powerful memory of the moon jellies at our regional aquarium. I could embody the movement of the jellyfish: the effortless, natural way that it expanded, how it seemed to move backwards just slightly and then propel itself forward as it expelled the water that it had just taken in. And I imagined the jellyfish to be graceful and easeful, but also intentional and powerful in its own way.

I imagine myself moving like a jellyfish: I am constantly learning and growing and expanding, taking in new information like water.

The crucial fourth step of the learning cycle

Shifting your frame on a situation can generate powerful momentum in problem solving. This idea of the jellyfish is something I took on in February, and since then have been tackling with clients: jettisoning what doesn’t serve you is a crucial part of growth, and frees your mind. And is deeply connected to the crucial step in our learning cycle: assess.

The pause before the surge

At times I wonder if I am slowing down or going backwards or taking on too much. And then I pull in, get focused and, for lack of a better word, expel what doesn’t serve me — and that is when I feel myself surging ahead.

And to own that I move like a jellyfish, aside from making me want to sing the Bubbly Toes song by Jack Johnson, leaves me joyous with this amazing felt-sense of this rhythm — the expansion-taking-in-moving-slightly-backwards, and the graceful, gliding surge ahead.