There is so much going on around us and we are so informed. With TV, radio, the worldwide web, social media and algorithms. There are so many distractions, yet the desire is to do less but have more.
The pressure is to be better versions of ourselves. Be a size smaller, more toned, have shinier hair, be more patient, healthier, sleep better, learn a new skill, spend more quality time with friends and family. See more of the world. The list goes on doesn't it?
In my first blog, Mind Games, I touched a bit about this, whereby our mind informs us how we should or shouldn't respond. For example, in setting your alarm to get up early for yoga, we might be tricked into thinking another ten minutes in bed is better for us. The narrative starts. "It's cold and dark. I'll do it tomorrow". Sound familiar?
The subconscious mind is unfathomable too isn't it. I'm sure we've all experienced the weird and wonderful in our dreams. (Maybe even more so during the Pandemic).
As my daughters were growing up, (and in my own childhood experiences) the best creative play and games come from our imagination. Building dens, creating stories, role play etc.
Have we got out of the habit of doing nothing and allowing our mind to wander? A constant need for stimulation and information in our ears, on our screens and in our hands sets a script that we are wasting time, unless we're tuned into something. I love this by, writer and photographer Nikaela Marie Peters, in an essay in Kinfolk Home.
Before we plan or love or act or tell a story we are idle. Before we learn we watch. Before we do we dream. Before we play we imagine. The idle mind is awake but unrestrained free to slip from idea to idea.
Personally, I cherish the quiet times I have each day. Usually, walking the dogs. Sometimes cleaning the bathroom. I like not to be plugged in. That gives me the opportunity to notice and feel the small changes, seasons, colours, and textures. Be more present. Perhaps plan my next project. Dream a bit.
It's the same practising yoga, especially in the familiarity of astanga. Noticing new sensations and feelings that crop up on the mat. Being present inside your body. But it's only when we can quieten the mind and try and stop it whirling that the real therapy starts. As in the most recognised sutra 1.2 yogas-citta-vrtti-nirodhah, which defines the practice of yoga as ceasing the fluctuations of the mind.
It's pretty hard to be engaged in 'other' conversations whilst you're in a full on yoga class standing on one leg. But not impossible. As we are constantly distracted by things around us. At least if we put the effort in - we are on a journey in learning how to cut some of them out.
So maybe we should allow our thoughts to meander a bit more in our day to day stuff?While walking, running, cleaning, or even sitting by a window and watching the clouds go by. As this too can make for a 'healthier' state of mind.
As quoted in the above essay, A mind adrift in a sea of it's own making is far more interesting than following a trail of hyperlinks.
Maybe we should all try switching off a bit more and dream on.
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