Treading Water
On the surface, people tend to think the benefit of yoga is increased flexibility and balance. As I see it, this is just icing on the cake. Yoga more that anything else I do helps me get to know myself. This, in turn, helps me ‘to my own self be true’ (“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man” – William Shakespeare).
Although, it is not actually the doing of yoga that helps me know myself. I only find this when I seek this (“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” – Jesus). In other words, action is action and nothing more. The value we find lies in how we approach action – any action.
An enduring by-path for me is having action stand in for approach. Such action for action’s sake is just treading water… “at least I’m doing something”. Nope! It is best to cease treading water and just sink. Nothing beats knowing when to stop! Although, to be fair and balanced, if you would stop a thing, you must first start it (to paraphrase chapter 36). Treading down a by-path is a prerequisite for finding your way. Often, ceasing to tread water and just letting yourself sink marks the transition from one to the other.
that's a nice post