The Benefits of Being Brainless

Watching the jellyfish exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium felt like an organically induced acid trip. The cavernous rooms of the exhibit were dimly lit, allowing the pulsating grace of the bioluminescent jellies, some with articulating cilia flashing rainbow colors like a disco ball, to shine. I was mesmerized, relaxed, totally chill.

 My husband had to call my name a few times to snap me back to mammalian reality. What was it about these brainless, spineless creatures that had me in a Zen mind-frame in a matter seconds? 

 Here's what I realized: sometimes brainless is better.

 When's the last time you let yourself drift in an ocean of thoughtlessness, just being? I'm not knocking being productive, setting goals, ticking off the to-do list. But focus and productivity can also be synonymous with the need for control. Life usually has other plans.

 Jellyfish just are. No heart, no direction, no plan. They pulsate with an innate rhythm, moving where the currents take them. They don't "trust" of course, because they have no brain. But what would happen if we spent a few moments, even hours a day, allowing the rhythm of the day to move us, rather than making an effort to direct the current of our lives?

 I have a daily jellyfish meditation practice. At some point during the day, usually the morning with a cup of coffee, I just see. I don't look--I don't discern the objects I'm aware of through my eyes, and I don't make judgments or have opinions about them (like hmmm, I have to dust that coffee table, or, oh, I forgot to water that fern.). I just allow my eyes to be aware of what is in front of me.

 Here's the bit of magic that happens then: at some subtle moment the environment around me becomes more fluid with my sense of self. There is a natural flow between the environment and me, a peaceful porousness that feels spontaneous and alive. If I move through my day from this sense of fluidity, the day feels softer, easier. I might even make more creative or insightful decisions when I don't rely solely on my busy brain.

 The benefit of being brainless is to experience the deeper pulsation of life on its own terms. You might enjoy a deeper sense of peace, connection, and creativity. Ultimately we might notice that as we move through our days we are also moving with the larger flow of life itself, and there is a graceful, subtle beauty in that.