What does yoga have to do with digging a hole?

May 14, 2011 | Humour, Nature, Wisdom, Yoga practices | 1 comment

How hard can it be to dig a hole? Have you ever thought about where people would be without holes dug. Probably still living in caves.
It used to be you could just go ahead and wing it…digging your hole. Now you can do a Google Search and discover “How to Dig a Hole”. It takes 5 steps on wikiHow, as a matter of fact. The first important step is to locate your utility lines, and call your council if you don’t know where they are.*
Today I dug a hole in order to transplant a severely root-bound palm. How hard should that be. Apparently very hard, I discovered. Intuitively I followed the wikiHow advice. But after an hour of swinging a mattock and shovelling dirt, and even enlisting Daniel for a few chops when I was losing heart, I still didn’t have a deep enough hole.
In the great spiritual text, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna instructs the warrior Arjuna on how to do Karma Yoga so he approach going into battle in the right way. His actions are meant to reflect “dexterity in execution” and “balance of mind” – or what is sometimes termed “skill in action”.
I wish I could say that my hole digging looked at all skilful and that the too-shallow hole was the expression of a balanced mind. I plonked the plant down into its cramped new home as I was too pooped to raise another shovelful, and too stubborn to ask for help.
The answer to the question in the title is that my yoga skills on the mat obviously
don’t transfer very well to digging. But, you know it doesn’t really matter. One thing I have learned is the art of non-perfectionism.
*Good idea but I didn’t do this.
- What does yoga have to do with digging a hole?

1 Comment

  1. I have just read your blogs from 4th May to date. Very enlightening and inspiring!
    I would like to join your class on Monday night. I attended a Wednesday class the last time we came to Manning Point in March. KB

    Reply

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