An Emerging Practice, Ch. 2
When you find joy, aliveness and presence again through movement
play naturally becomes a practice.
A natural desire to go deeper for greater understanding,
more skillful and free expression of Self will emerge without force.
When your cup is full with expectation, achievement, and the need for external validation from others’ value system you leave no room for personal joy and curiosity.
Without enjoyment a budding practice either dies naturally to make way for something alive,
or it’s nurtured by conditioning and external validation, which grow a synthetic practice with shallow roots, always thirsty for aliveness regardless of how much “knowledge” they drink, and rigid branches that break rather than bend in winds of change and challenge.
Without curiosity there can be no captivation.
Without captivation dedication wanes under the burdens of discipline and task.
When dedication wanes there’s no longevity.
Without longevity there isn’t the necessary time to explore the depth required to evolve understanding and reveal the nature of the Self.
The depth where change occurs and personal style emerges.
Digression:
That’s right! I’m talking about practice!
When an activity gives you joy and the feeling of aliveness a natural desire emerges to develop your ability. You become curious in your exploration for understanding and expression. A natural desire to develop and refine your ability fuels you to not just engage in the activity, but to practice it!
And why? Because there’s an innate understanding that developing and refining your ability peels away layers of the onion that reveal more enjoyment, challenge and freedom of expression! You realize the deeper you go the more there is.
This doesn’t mean you’ll never experience frustration. Of course you will! That’s part of what keeps you coming back for more. The easiest video games weren’t the ones we kept playing for years when we were kids, right? (Did anyone ever beat Zelda?).
A worthy challenge to overcome and a puzzle to solve engages the whole being - mind, body and spirit. It captivates you! Now you’re on to something special because there’s an internal motivation expressing itself and you’re riding the wave.
When you don’t have a joyful foundation you’re left with physical training motivated by illusion from the daily barrage of avatars of who we should be, how we should look, and how we should go about manifesting someone else’s vision of a successful and fulfilling life. (If I just had a six-pack my life would be complete). That’s the point at which you shoulder the burdens of discipline and task.
Something that should be alive is an item on your todo list. Without curiosity you have to fuel action with self-discipline; an exhaustible fuel supply. When discipline runs out you’re left with guilt about not being enough to live up to the illusion. We know what happens next because we’ve all been in that vicious cycle.
Open yourself to joyful movement; the gift that keeps on giving.
Be curious for a curious spirit is a young one. Age is both a number and an internal state.
In joy,
Tanner