The Practising of Practise
Just sitting down with a nice hot cup of Kukicha after a fairly productive 45 minutes of Yoga and meditation. I must say that my practise really suffers this time of year. Where I live in Canada it’s very cold and dry. The coldness, which you never seem to escape, tends to close the body up, making practise and the depth of your practise difficult to crack. The dryness of the prairie air, three hours east of the Canadian Rockies, also seems to make your muscles feel more like rawhide than malleable tissue. Finally, winter in general, with its minimal daylight hours sends motivation into a downward spiral.
In spite of it all, the true test of one’s discipline and practise is getting your butt in gear and doing it. So, this morning, armed with a space heater and with Kodo, a Japanese drum consort, playing in the background, I made myself practise and am happier for it. The mind is truly a bizarre instrument as it often causes us to do or not do things which lead to fulfillment or regret. Just think of all the times that you’ve dreaded something, like going to a dinner party, but once arriving you had a great time. Or, on the flipside, when you decided to have that second helping of cake or indulged a little too much in festive libations, only to curse yourself for lacking in willpower. Perhaps this is the result of not knowing exactly what it is we want, or, more likely than not, a simple product of being human.
This of course leads us to New Year’s and all of the resolutions people make both successfully and unsuccessfully. Though New Years is just another day in my mind, I think that it is a positive thing if it motivates people to enact change and set/pursue goals. Just bear in mind, life is a journey, so if you break your resolution, don’t wait until 2007 to make it again. You control your actions in the moment, and that’s all.
…Now if only we could control the weather! It goes from -50 C to +40 C here over four seasons!!!! That’s just CRAZY!!!!
Painting: "Fuji River" by Kawase Hasui
Just sitting down with a nice hot cup of Kukicha after a fairly productive 45 minutes of Yoga and meditation. I must say that my practise really suffers this time of year. Where I live in Canada it’s very cold and dry. The coldness, which you never seem to escape, tends to close the body up, making practise and the depth of your practise difficult to crack. The dryness of the prairie air, three hours east of the Canadian Rockies, also seems to make your muscles feel more like rawhide than malleable tissue. Finally, winter in general, with its minimal daylight hours sends motivation into a downward spiral.
In spite of it all, the true test of one’s discipline and practise is getting your butt in gear and doing it. So, this morning, armed with a space heater and with Kodo, a Japanese drum consort, playing in the background, I made myself practise and am happier for it. The mind is truly a bizarre instrument as it often causes us to do or not do things which lead to fulfillment or regret. Just think of all the times that you’ve dreaded something, like going to a dinner party, but once arriving you had a great time. Or, on the flipside, when you decided to have that second helping of cake or indulged a little too much in festive libations, only to curse yourself for lacking in willpower. Perhaps this is the result of not knowing exactly what it is we want, or, more likely than not, a simple product of being human.
This of course leads us to New Year’s and all of the resolutions people make both successfully and unsuccessfully. Though New Years is just another day in my mind, I think that it is a positive thing if it motivates people to enact change and set/pursue goals. Just bear in mind, life is a journey, so if you break your resolution, don’t wait until 2007 to make it again. You control your actions in the moment, and that’s all.
…Now if only we could control the weather! It goes from -50 C to +40 C here over four seasons!!!! That’s just CRAZY!!!!
Painting: "Fuji River" by Kawase Hasui
posted by Ed Meers @ 12/21/2005 10:40:00 a.m.
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