When I started thinking about Openings and Closings, I began pondering how many times the human eyes open and close per day. How many blinks do you think you make in a minute or in a day. Surprisingly we blink on the average of twelve to twenty times a minute which adds up to approximately fifteen thousand blinks a day. This translates to having our eyes closed about 10% of the time while were supposedly awake. Where are you in each one of these blinks?

Then I wanted to know how many times we breathe each day which is to open and close our respiratory system. Do you want to make a guess? Our breathing rates, depending on age and exercise average twelve to twenty breathes per minute or approximately twenty five thousand breaths per day. This obviously includes sleep time as well as ‘awake’ time.

Finally I checked in with our heart rates. This one really knocked me over. Do you have a guess as to how many times our hearts beat, opening and closing the heart valves in a day? The average is sixty to a hundred openings and closings a minute which adds up to an average of around one hundred fifteen thousand beats a day. How close are you to your heart beat?

From a psycho-spiritual point of view, every one of these blinks, breaths and pulses is an opportunity to tap into the Generative Operating Design of Creation. Every one of these very natural processes operate without our conscious awareness and allow us to  function on this earth plane. Without blinking we would go blind. Without breathing and pulsing we would loose our physical bodies. What about other openings and closings? How aware are you of them?

Let’s explore the mind and our consciousness a little. How about Opening and Closing our minds? How often have you noticed your mind being closed to new ideas, different ways of thinking and acting and how often have you noticed it in others? What’s the process that takes place when you have a conversation with someone who has a ‘fixed’ mindset that’s different than yours? Do you notice inner Openings or Closings? Do you notice conflicts?

How about when you hear someone talking a different language than those you know? It could be Spanish, Physics, Religious, Mathematics, Arabic, English, Chemistry, Biology, Mechanics, Technology, Sports, Design, Art, Engineering, Accounting or any number of the many languages we speak on Earth today. What happens to you? Does your attention and appreciation move to greater Openings or Closings or do you expand and contract, open and close, ebb and flow?

This subject of Openings and Closings is a vast one and we’re just getting started in this investigation. It has implications for the Evolution of Consciousness in fields as diverse as Business, Politics and Physics. This is a beginning, a simple introduction for us to start observing and inquiring into all the Openings and Closings in our lives. Start today with Blinking, Pulsing and Breathing, knowing that all we need for this inquiry is right here. Stay within while Stepping Out and experience the both/and of it. How many blinks did you notice in this reading, how many heartbeats, how many breaths? Awareness? Attention? Appreciation?

• Become aware of your blinks here and now. The next one you become aware of, keep your eyes closed for one breath and ten heart beats. (feel the pulse in your finger tips)
• Now simply experience your breathing in and breathing out three times. While you’re focusing on these three breathes count the number of blinks you can become aware of . . .
• Put your thumbs and forefingers together and feel your pulse, your heartbeat. Become aware in each pulse that one day these pulses will stop and you’ll have to leave this plane of existence. How does this awareness change your perspective of this moment?
• Come back to these practices as often as possible over the next week and inquire into the many other Openings and Closings that come to mind and their implications for you . . .
• Experiment with these exercises and notice your receptivity and resistance to them. It’s about birthing a new you every moment, every day; increasing your awareness along the way . . .