Fourth Form of Madness

Sometimes we live by beliefs that have no basis in reality (actually this could happen more than sometimes :-)). We hear something so often we believe it to be true. Whole structures of society are then built around these “truths” but these structures are build on sandy ground and are not stable (although they are annoyingly persistent :-)). All it takes is a touch of awareness to watch them wobble and fall down.

A beautiful example of the above process can be illustrated by Darwin. Charles Darwin never said the words “Survival of the Fittest”, his studies and writings never supported the theory that only the strongest and fittest of a species would survive and conquer the weaker of a species. This sentiment was added to his words by minds that should have known better but blinded by their often racial or gender based discriminative projects, chose only to see the “truth” fit for their purpose. What Darwin did say is “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” I prefer Darwin’s take on this, as we all might not be able to be the fittest or the strongest due to our individual biological makeup, but we all get equal access to adaptability, as that is largely an internal quality that you get to decide upon. Just another choice for us to make.

I have heard another saying “The two things you can rely on in life are taxes and death”. I think the saying should be “The three things you can rely on in life are taxes, death and change” hee hee. Change is constant. Take your body for example, the cells are always constantly changing and being replaced so that it is actually true to say that you are never the same person from one day to the next. Think of your thoughts, never the same, sometimes they can change radically in the space of one day. How can you look to these for any solid confirmation of who you are?

This reminds me of another one my favourite sayings by Greek Philosopher Heraclitus, “You never step into the same river twice”. The waters are always flowing, so the water you step into today, is not the water you step in tomorrow, even if you step in the exact same spot. A lot like life. Yet sometimes we always try to live life with the same habitual ways that we used for yesterday no matter what it presents us with. I can think of many situations where I am doing this right now in my life but none highlight this process as much as yoga. You can not come to a practice today with yesterday’s body.

I did the other day much to my own peril and exacerbated a touchy lower back problem I have had for the last two weeks. More fool me. However, I kind of look at this injury like a bodily warning system to slow down for a week or two. My life is fairly hectic and eventful at the moment. I thank my body for once again being the ultimate wisdom who’s ruling I have learnt not to question. I don’t stop my yoga practice, I just adapt. A chance to rekindle my love of restorative home practice which I have let slide lately. Delicious, there is nothing more stabilising and relaxing than restorative yoga. My animals love it too as they usually settle themselves in on the blankets and bolsters I use and have a nap during each asana. As one of my friends would say this is “fur therapy”. Although I must remember to clean my mat when I have done this special animal assisted form of restorative, as there is nothing like rocking up to group practice and rolling your mat out in a cloud of cat and dog fur!

So whilst we might not be endowed with the biggest biceps or Einsteins brain power, we all have choice, whether we chose to exercise this right or not. This means we can all adapt to life and in this adaptability may lie not the ability to survive life but the true ability to live her, in all her glory, come what may.