How Palmolive Softens Hands and Enlightens Minds
February 16, 2010 by admin
Filed under Past Weekly Themes
I still have oatmeal cookies on my mind. Whenever I make them, I find that I am truly in the present moment, much like when I teach yoga. Each time I bake, my actions become more refined (think Vinyasa, ‘to place in a special way’) and the results more beautiful and rewarding.
Yet I noticed as I was putting away my big yellow mixing bowl that it was still dirty. In fact, it had a large chunk of oatmeal cookie dough on the outer lip. I was shocked! How could I have missed this?
Let’s rewind. When I was washing the big yellow bowl, I must not have been really looking to see if it was clean. My mind was some place other then the task at hand. This reminded me of a time my friend cut herself with a knife while doing the dishes. Accidents happen, but rarely when you are fully concentrated on the task. But I have done the dishes a million times. You’d think I would have mastered it by now.
I flipped open a traditional Hatha yoga book and in the text it gives one of the definitions of yoga as “skill in action”. This translates to the awareness with each action. Skill in action is a direct pathway to the present moment. It is one layer deeper then the thought you need to be in the present moment.
Now the dishwashing episode is clear. I wasn’t merging action and awareness as you do when practicing yoga. Without this as part of your yoga practice, you are merely doing physical exercise. Yoga wasn’t created for physical fitness, despite what our current culture is projecting through all the various new forms of yoga. No one can deny yoga has physical and therapeutic benefits, many of which are needed to get beyond your limits of the mind.
So yoga, the joining of action and awareness, is a practice that extends off the mat as it begins to truly transform the personal Vinyasa of your daily life.
The yoga tradition also teaches us that you should hold an asana (posture) until your mind is clear of thought. The real practice of “skill in action” is finding a deep presence with each posture you do. Let go of the analytical side of your mind, stop judging yourself and just be with the awareness the posture brings.
So, if baking is to Vinyasa, then Hatha yoga is to _____________.
Joe- This was very eye-opening to me. In the few yoga classes I have taken, I never made that connection beyond physical exercise. Holding a posture until your mind is clear of thought- that is combining meditation and exercise. I can now see why this practice is so fulfilling and enjoyable for so many people. I can also see that it must be an evolutionary process to get there, just as meditation is. I like how you said yoga is a practice that extends off the mat. I never thought of it that way before…Lori
Hi Joe ~ This post really got me thinking! I am guilty as charged when it comes to “zoning out” while performing a task I have done over a thousand times. After reading your article I began to reflect on my yoga practice. As a yoga student for 10 years, and a yoga teacher for over 2, I find my interest has shifted from mastering advanced postures to bringing full awareness to postures that I have practiced over a hundred times before. I understand now that I am pursuing “skill in action”. This morning your words inspired me to dedicated my home practice to stillness and awareness. I wanted to dissolve each posture into its simplest form. Then while being inside the postures, I directed my energy and efforts towards the experience and sensation the asana produced. I surrendered layer by layer deeper within. With this new found presence, as challenging as it was, I discovered a feeling once lost to the chatter of the mind. A feeling of new beginning. Thank you for this powerful realization! ~Jolene