Notes on the title

Yoga and oatmeal, because the two have sparked my interest in the mind-body connection.

It is unmistakable how the body absorbs the tension of the mind. I discover it again and again on the mat. One day I have an enjoyable practice - it stimulates my circulation as it stretches and strengthens me. I fully inhabit my body, filling it with the energy of the breath. Wisdom moves away from the chatter of busy-mind into the quiet, eager limbs. When I am done, I feel limber, open, and strong. I am taller, and calmer.

Two days later, I unroll my mat and discover that I have in me a re-occuring landscape of tightness. As it turns out, we don't live in a blissful vacuum between the times we practice; at some point the chatter picks up again. Reality is often lost beneath a static of distracting, self-generated noise: laundry lists, daydreams, attractions, and aversions. As the mind tells its stories about itself, unable to stop talking to itself, the body braces in reaction without our even being aware of it. As long as the stories repeat themselves (which they inevitably do - we are all subject to our own conditioning), tension collects in the same spots.

Continuing to practice is a great act of self-compassion. To set aside the chatter-mind for the sake of bringing attention back to your body, to kindly listen to its aches and open it again, restores a simple sense of clarity. We tend to forget: that our consciousness can inhabit this mass of energy, this body, is so mysterious as to be miraculous. Some would call this the divine. I think I would call this the divine.

Next time I'll talk about oatmeal.