The Rebirth Manual: Make Yourself New
by Kinga Lewandowska
Over the course of our lives almost all parts of our body refurbish themselves. We get a fresh outer layer of skin every 2-4 weeks and brand new fingernails every 6 months. We replace our skeleton every 10 years and muscles every 15 years. In 80 to 100 days, 30 trillion cells in our physical form are replenished. Each day, we lose a hundred hairs only to grow them back. Our powers of rebirth are truly astonishing.
All these small, involuntary miracles happening in our bodies make our structure serve us better and longer. However, when it comes to all the immaterial parts in us, we need to consciously put in effort to obtain the same results.
Panta Rhei: Everything Flows
As leaves turn from green to gold in autumn, we, too, go through periods of transformation. Whether we like it or not, change is simply part of the deal. It’s impossible to step into the same river twice as nothing is permanent and that saying has never been truer than in this century.
Zygmunt Bauman, sociologist and philosopher, defined our contemporary reality as liquid. According to him, we live in “a society in which the conditions under which its members act change faster than it takes the ways of acting to consolidate into habits and routines. Liquidity of life and that of society feed and reinvigorate each other. Liquid life, just like liquid modern society, cannot keep its shape or stay on course for long.”
The world is changing at an unprecedented speed which makes uncertainty and instability the sign of our times. The bright side is, we get more freedom and room for growth. If we embrace change as an ally, there is no telling how far we could go and how high a mountain we could conquer.
The New You in 5 Minutes
With the constant flow of the river of life, the perfect moment to reinvent ourselves is whenever we want it to be. This truth is especially liberating when the walls seem to be closing in on us for one reason or another, when we need to get out of our current conditions and/or a particular state of mind. We become tougher than the tough times by treating a rough patch as an opportunity for metamorphosis.
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." — Maya Angelou
How can you transform into a beautiful butterfly or raise like a phoenix from the ashes? Bring yourself to your attention. How long is it going to take? We argue that reinvention can be triggered in as few as 5 minutes. How do we know? We created and personally tested the Mindful Focus Hourglass, a tool that will help you discover the power of uninterrupted NOW.
Whether you want to anchor yourself in the present moment for 5 or 30 minutes (these are the options our hourglasses offer), or customize this time to your own liking, you’ll quickly find out that mindful self-care and quality alone time can do magic for your renewal. When we’re overwhelmed with the daily grind, distracted by modernity, rushed and depleted, a few minutes of peace can make a world of a difference.
The Rebirth Manual
Find a quiet space, sit down in a comfortable position, turn over the hourglass (setting the alarm on your phone still can create unwanted distractions), and open your mind to change. You can close your eyes or watch the grains of time mark its passing. Focus on your breath – this meditative state is supposed to help you go inward, to deeper levels of your being.
Tune out any shifts of the outside reality for now – in order to handle them well, you need to focus on your inner world first. One by one, dust off unprocessed emotions and unfulfilled dreams lingering on the shelves in your heart. Open forgotten volumes of your personal philosophy in the library of your mind. Explore your innermost nooks and crannies and you’ll become your own adventure.
Healing starts within you. Self-love resides within you. Resilience to the world’s elusiveness and ephemerality also takes shape within you. You are the source of your magnificence, power, and renewal. You activate your evolution by choosing a new path, and you make the decision to reinvent yourself. You feel when the moment is right to make the call and press play. It is all up to you.
Work in Progress
Evolution takes time and you will need to develop patience. Nonetheless, provided that you consistently choose to spend some time exploring your depth, you only need a few minutes to begin the process of internal change. We go through some kind of rebirth on a regular basis anyway. Why not embrace this process and take it as far as your heart desires?
What the ancient wisdom in our bodies communicates to us is that it’s healthy to (literally) shed your skin from time to time and make room for new layers. Thus, vitality and radiance are direct results of how well we can accept and marvel at newness. Maybe you’ve been reading this chapter for too long now? Is it time to turn the page in your life? Take a few mindful minutes for yourself and, sooner or later, the answers will come to you.