Do you know this folktale about a yogi who lives in a tiny house with her husband, her mother, five children, a dog, two cats, a cow, and chickens?
Well, as you might imagine, she was feeling so overwhelmed by the chaos in our daily life that she went to her guru for advice. Her teacher told her the problem was easy to solve:
Buy a goat.
Really? – she thought with great skepticism. Should I really be adding more to this chaos?
Nevertheless, she trusted her teacher who had never led her astray so she bought a goat and brought the goat home.
Now she had her husband, her mother, five children, a dog, two cats, a cow,
chickens, AND a goat running around chomping on everything. Things were even more crowded and chaotic than ever before.
The exasperated yogi returned to her teacher who told her the solution was easy:
Sell the goat.
‘Really?’ she thought with great skepticism once again. ‘I just bought this stupid goat!’ But trusting her teacher once more, she sold her goat.
As she looked around her house at her newly goat-less house with her husband, her mother, five children, dog, two cats, a cow, and chickens she thought…
Wow! It’s look how peaceful it is around here!
While I’m (only slightly) tempted to make some joke about the rise of goat yoga, this story is really just reminding us of how yoga can sometimes work in an unexpected way.
So often we come to our yoga practice as a way to let go of something. Maybe it’s
tension, the trauma of an injury or an emotional experience, or the distress of life in a fast-paced demanding world. And when the aim is to reduce, it seems a bit counter-intuitive to add something.
But when we add an engagement in a particular part of our bodies, or an intense breath practice, it hones our focus. Then when we let go of that precise effort – when we sell the goat – there is a tangible, noticeable sense of relief.
Buying and selling goats ends up as a perspective shift that informs what it really means to be at ease in body, mind, and otherwise.
Now I know this story of buying and selling goats might seem like a big contrast to the message I left you in last month’s blog post.
One of the greatest gifts yoga offers us is the promise that we already have everything we need. And also, sometimes we got so wrapped up in everything we have going on, we can lose our perspective. It’s only until we add one thing, and then take it away, that we have the same perspective shift as the heroine in the story.
You must look within for value, but you must look beyond for perspective. -Denis Waitley
In other words, I know summer can be a super busy time. I can hear you thinking, ‘Come to class now? Really? You want me to add one more thing?’
But yes, come to buy and sell some goats and I think you’ll be delighted by the results.
And I know, I know…
