Empty Boats & Perspective

Photo via tommcgeephotography.com

At Tranquil Space this month, our theme of the month is "seeing the world from a fresh perspective." As I've taught classes around this theme and thought about it in my own practice this past month, I have begun to see how broadening or shifting your perspective can create a great difference in your every day life, your happiness, and your overall sense of calm. Similarly, as the seasons change and the weather gets warmer, it's been easy to see this idea in action as people's moods change with the amount of sun shining and the temperature in the air. Just as a bit of sun can make everything appear brighter and happier, so can a small shift in perspective, or a change in how you perceive a situation or person...

One of my favorite stories about perspective, from Living Your Yoga by Judith Lasater, is below:

One day a monk was walking by the banks of a lake and found an abandoned rowboat. He spent several months lovingly restoring it. Finally, the day came to launch it on the clear waters of the lake. As he began to row, he noticed that it was getting foggy, but he continued nonetheless. Suddenly, swiftly cutting through the fog came another rowboat, which rammed into his boat. All of his work—the new wood and the paint job—was damaged. The monk got angry and strained to see who had done this thoughtless thing to his boat. And then he saw that the other boat was empty. His anger collapsed in the moment.

How many of the little things that you let affect you--change you mood, stress you out, upset you--are just empty rowboats? How can a small shift in the way that you think about something, or see something (or someone) change your daily life for the better? I know that I let a lot of empty rowboats get me down throughout the week (often looking for  someone to blame for something that an empty boat has done), so I have been trying to broaden or change the way that I perceive things in order to learn to stress a bit less...it's been hard, but has also been a very interesting and freeing practice.

Another great lesson from a wonderful yoga teacher (Ms. Lasater)!

Now off to row my boat :) And while we're on the subject, my absolute favorite type of boat is below:

Partner boat! How fun! (photo via chicagonow.com)

Namaste!
Mary Catherine

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!!!!!!!