There is an Italian saying that goes, “Chi va piano, va sano, va lontano. Chi va forte, va alla morte”. Loosely translated, this means he who moves slowly, moves peacefully and moves far. He who moves too quickly and forcefully goes right to his death!
I was reminded of this wise saying this week as the news of our troubled financial institutions took over the headlines. The predictions have been out there for us to read. Everyone knew that we were headed for more troubled times. However, we, meaning individuals, corporations and banks, continued to overspend and over borrow. The rush for financial gain has blinded our vision and we now pay the price as some of our oldest financial institutions head towards their death.
My nonna (grandmother) would often quote that Italian saying emphasizing the morte or death part with her hands. “What is the big rush?”, she would ask me? “Piano, piano, piano”, (slow, slow, slow) she would mumble to herself as I raced in and out of the house.
Finally, 30 years later, I am beginning to understand my nonna and it all started on my yoga mat. By slowing down my practice I have begun to move through my poses in peace. I have also been able to move in deeper and further than ever before. By slowing down physically, I have started to slow down my mind. The mental chatter will now sometimes (not always) settle into a rhythm sometimes in the first 20 minutes of practice.
I truly believe that our yoga and meditation practices parallel the way that we are living our lives. My practice is always so harshly honest that I cannot stand it sometimes! My practice reveals if I am forcing or moving too quickly. My practice reveals if I am lazy or doubtful. And as I like to say, if it is happening on your mat, it is happening in your life too!
I wholeheartedly believe that what I do at the individual level will happen at the collective level too. So if I over consume or over borrow, I will add to our aggregate issues. But if I learn to move slowly in this world, perhaps I will move more peacefully. And if I move more peacefully I know that I evolve as an individual. Now that affects the aggregate in a whole new way!
If we all start moving and acting more slowly, I know that we will move and act more peacefully. And if we all move and act more peacefully, I know that collectively we will evolve as a species. That is something to cheer about.
Grazie Nonna for your wise Italian words and for being my first yoga teacher.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A Golden Summer
This summer my parents and my in-laws each celebrated their golden 50th wedding anniversaries. The happy couples got married two days apart in 1958. We celebrated this summer by honoring our parents and their amazing achievements. These two wonderful couples stayed together for fifty years while so much chaos and confusion occurred in the world. They were blessed to stay healthy and happy in spite of the risk of disease, accidents and premature death.
Both couples said that their recipe for success was their strong commitment to one another. They vowed to love and honor one another fifty years ago and were able to ride the storms of life on the foundation of those vows. Now, we all know that the story doesn’t always have such a happy ending but I do think that we can learn so much from people who have endured, persevered and achieved success from many, many years of hard work and commitment.
In our world of fad diets and fad fitness trends it seems that many of us jump into the newest and greatest fad feet first only to drop it like a hot potato in a month or less. Hollywood goes so far as to celebrate fad weddings only to see those fad marriages dissolve in a year or less.
What I have learned and continue to learn from my yoga and meditation practice is the necessity of a committing to a consistent practice. Practice can include prayer, meditation, yoga, walking, cooking, painting, etc. A practice can be five quiet minutes with your morning cup of coffee.
We will all be called to different practices.
I took some time the other day to write down my current practices. There are many in my life. A chose a few of the more important ones and committed myself to practicing them consistently for the next fifty years of my life. (That is if I am so blessed as to have fifty more years to live.) It was a powerful experience and has since charged me up in many ways.
So I thank my parents and my in-laws for demonstrating the powerful force of a committed practice. I am grateful to be a product of such commitment.
I share with you all below a terrific passage from the brilliant Buddhist teacher, Jack Kornfield. He further and more eloquently addresses what I’ve humbly tried to explain.
Peace.
If we do a little of one kind of practice and a little of another, the work we have done in one often doesn't continue to build as we change to the next. It is as if we were to dig many shallow wells instead of one deep one. In continually moving from one approach to another, we are never forced to face our own boredom, impatience, and fears. We are never brought face to face with ourselves. So we need to choose a way of practice that is deep and ancient and connected with our hearts, and then make a commitment to follow it as long as it takes to transform ourselves.
--Jack Kornfield in A Path with Heartfrom Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book
Both couples said that their recipe for success was their strong commitment to one another. They vowed to love and honor one another fifty years ago and were able to ride the storms of life on the foundation of those vows. Now, we all know that the story doesn’t always have such a happy ending but I do think that we can learn so much from people who have endured, persevered and achieved success from many, many years of hard work and commitment.
In our world of fad diets and fad fitness trends it seems that many of us jump into the newest and greatest fad feet first only to drop it like a hot potato in a month or less. Hollywood goes so far as to celebrate fad weddings only to see those fad marriages dissolve in a year or less.
What I have learned and continue to learn from my yoga and meditation practice is the necessity of a committing to a consistent practice. Practice can include prayer, meditation, yoga, walking, cooking, painting, etc. A practice can be five quiet minutes with your morning cup of coffee.
We will all be called to different practices.
I took some time the other day to write down my current practices. There are many in my life. A chose a few of the more important ones and committed myself to practicing them consistently for the next fifty years of my life. (That is if I am so blessed as to have fifty more years to live.) It was a powerful experience and has since charged me up in many ways.
So I thank my parents and my in-laws for demonstrating the powerful force of a committed practice. I am grateful to be a product of such commitment.
I share with you all below a terrific passage from the brilliant Buddhist teacher, Jack Kornfield. He further and more eloquently addresses what I’ve humbly tried to explain.
Peace.
If we do a little of one kind of practice and a little of another, the work we have done in one often doesn't continue to build as we change to the next. It is as if we were to dig many shallow wells instead of one deep one. In continually moving from one approach to another, we are never forced to face our own boredom, impatience, and fears. We are never brought face to face with ourselves. So we need to choose a way of practice that is deep and ancient and connected with our hearts, and then make a commitment to follow it as long as it takes to transform ourselves.
--Jack Kornfield in A Path with Heartfrom Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book
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