Often there is the sense that things must be perfect – that reality must perform with our idea of what peace, happiness, perfection and so on, looks like. But what if we could accept every aspect of our experience – when our hearts are open and free, when they are contracted and fiercely shut, when we are joyously expressive or turning inwards in retreat? Expansion cannot be separated from contraction – the two work together as in the pulsing in and out of a heart, the movement in and out of the tide, the inhale and exhale, creation and dissolution. However, it is the more subtle movement between expansion and contraction that tells us we are aligned to life force – the subtle opening and closing of the eyelids, the invisible vibrations that fill our being. In the words of Rumi, ‘Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birdwings.’