Reflection on rivers
Lessons from the river
I was fortunate to have spent a lovely afternoon strolling along the river Thames in Henley recently with my Dad and it occurred to me on that sunny afternoon, that there are many lessons that I've learned from rivers. I find rivers to be a great metaphor for life in many different ways and I thought I’d explore some of those in this article.
Rivers have a winding nature with lots of twists and turns which is very often how our lives flow. They also have lots of tributaries and streams which might represent the tangents that our lives sometimes go off in. My career has been full of twists, turns and tangents. I decided at age 15 that Physiotherapy was going to be my career. So I took a fairly straight forward, though not easy, route for a while getting through my A levels and Physiotherapy degree and fortunately into a junior Physio position straight from university. However, a few years later family life became my priority and so the tangents began. I was fortunate to be able to train as a Pilates instructor soon after becoming a parent, which gave me a different direction for my career. Further tangents followed, including violin teaching for a few years, training as a health coach and then studying to become a breath work and mindfulness teacher. I’m excited to see where the next bend in the river takes me!
I love this quote by Heraclitus “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” I really find this an excellent metaphor for life too, in that each and every moment is different from the moment before. And therefore the only moment in which we are ever truly living is the present moment. I also love that rivers are changing too, picking up minerals and salts as they travel across rocks and river beds much like we pick up knowledge and experiences as we go through life.
During the visit with my Dad, we discussed the physics of saltwater versus freshwater and how there can be times in a tidal river where the heavier saltwater from the sea is travelling upstream below the lighter freshwater that’s flowing downstream from the mountains. Life can sometimes feel as though some aspects are almost going backwards while other aspects are flowing freely forwards, much like the water in the river.
I also noticed a huge variety of different boats sharing the river – it happened to be a traditional boat festival day - and it reminded me of the huge variety of life sharing this beautiful planet at the same time. What a privilege it is to co-exist on this planet with so many wonderful beings, human and otherwise, during my precious time here.
And then there are the man-made locks which artificially control the flow of the water. These make it easier for the boats to travel uphill without having to work so hard against the tide or the downhill flow. These could represent moments in our lives where we feel that events are out of our control or have stopped flowing so well. But they could also represent the moments or people in our lives that give us a helping hand. I'm so grateful to my guides whether teachers, authors, family or friends that help me on my way through life.
A regular practice that I started during Covid lockdown, was to walk to a stunning spot on the local river, and sit on the little wooden bridge watching the river flow away from me. I'd take a moment to consider the thoughts or limiting beliefs that were getting in my way and imagine them flowing away down the river. I'd then turn around to face the water flowing towards me and imagine the positive feelings and thoughts that I needed to hear flowing towards me on the river. I found this to be a really empowering and simple practice that helped me through those difficult times. I use a similar visualisation during the relaxation session of my Pilates classes and will offer various different versions of this in my mindfulness course that starts in September.
I loved sitting with an ice cream in hand in the sunshine while watching the boats travelling up and down the river and hope this article has given you some food for thought! If you’d like to join me in a Pilates class or in my new mindfulness course, click below to email me and enquire. Full details about Pilates can be found here and mindfulness here.