I grew up in a very goal-oriented household. When I would bring home report cards, my dad would ask "where's the missing 5%" or I'd get a seriously long lecture if I didn't finish my homework on time...Not to mention the violin, painting and figure skating classes.
Talk about living up to the stereotype.
Even when we were on vacation, the schedule was always maxed out. Everything was planned out from the hotel we were staying at, to which restaurant we would eat at each night.
That was my normal.
As a young adult, I would then replicate what my upbringing taught me. Keep yourself busy. Don't be lazy. Work humbly. If you succeed, keep working. Don't waste time.
So, as you can imagine, I was in all kinds of different extracurricular activities and volunteer programs from a teenager all the way through to my early 20s.
It was only when I started traveling backpacking that my world view changed. I started to embrace the mellow moments. I started to recognize the importance of slowing down and STOP SLAVE-DRIVING my body.
What our culture has taught us is that we must always be busy. Even if we're just scrolling through Instagram, Tik Tok or whatever other social media platform. Keep busy (or at least pretend to be). However, what we've all failed to consider is that our very basic human body has not evolved as fast as the technology and economy that surrounds us. Our physical body is nowhere near as evolved as we would like to think it is.
The biology of the human body is not that much different than the one that used to hunt and gather fruits. We just have better tools today. Yet we use our body as if its become just as efficient as that KitchenAid blender/juice-maker/multitasking machine. We are constantly driving our bodies to be faster, keep up with routines, keep up with the trends. What we lack are mindful actions that enable us to grow stronger, smarter, healthier for ourselves, not the social or cultural stigmas.
How many times have you chowed down a bowl of instant noodles so you could finish your emails that evening? Or how many of you have replied to those said emails while sitting on the toilet bowl (sorry if that was a bit blunt)? Or even worse, how many of you have replied to an email or a text message while having a conversation with someone in front of you... Did you actually hear what that person said? My bet is no, and you just nodded and said something along the lines of "uh-huh" or "yeah, totally", without really knowing what you've just agreed to.
Humans aren't built to be running from one chore to the next without a moment's rest., and we are definitely not built to multitask. When we move from one busy task to the next without considering or absorbing what we've just learnt from the previous action, we aren't learning or growing. It's as good as watching tv until your brain goes numb.
In yoga, one of the most difficult asanas is Savasana (corps pose). It's typically done at the beginning or end of a sequence. It either calms your mind to prepare for what you are about to do or help your body absorb what you've just achieved. It gives your body a chance to notice either what is about to happen, or what has happened. How come we don't do that in our day to day?
In one of my previous vlogs on Instagram, I spoke about doing nothing and how MO.SS was a brainchild of one of those moments. It's only when we're able to be at peace, to silence the external distractions that we're truly able to think about WHAT we are doing and explore those ideas.
So, stop slave-driving your body. Let it rest. Let it absorb what it's learnt up until now, the good and the bad. Your body is not as evolved as the device you're reading this post on. Let it recharge so that you can do amazing things.
Yours Truly,
Yaya