Nothing at all
This article was published in the
Australian Yoga Life magazine, Issue 22,
April 2009 – March 2009, page 51.
Nothing is a practice in and of itself, just like yoga. We spend so much of our lives distracting ourselves with things to do and places to be; entertaining ourselves with people to see – so much so that we can go for years without truly connecting with ourselves. Pause for a minute to contemplate how much there is in your every moment.
Why are we so afraid to do nothing at all?
Is it because we associate our self-worth with our achievements? Is it because we judge our own value against our productivity? Perhaps it is because we don’t know how to be ourselves if we’re not doing something?
I grew up in a family of high achievers and it took literally years for me to work through my conditioned, task-oriented lifestyle. This happened as my journey into yoga deepened and I came to realise that nothing can be so much more rewarding than something. In fact, I’ve discovered that out of nothingness a sense of true something-ness emerges. And then I realised that I wished to approach my life as a space out of which creativity and inspiration can appear spontaneously. I wanted to know what it felt like to go nowhere.
My journey into yoga helped me un-do all the doing and open up to simply being. A consistent yoga practice created the space for nothing to appear safely without being sent away with a sharp judgement call!
When we do take time to be with ourselves; when we do open up to nothing, we can see things as they really are. Nothingness invites us to feel, to be, to see, and to know exactly who we are in that moment. Nothingness delivers us a clarity that instantly communicates to us what supports us, and what does not support us, about our existence. Nothingness gives us the chance to get to know ourselves intimately.
Can you resist the temptation to do something?
Here’s a suggestion of a way to do nothing within your weekly rhythm. Start with ‘nothing simple’ such as sitting at the end of your asana practice before getting up to do something or turn the TV onto mute instead of channel surfing during the ad break and experience what it’s like to sit in silence for a few minutes.
When you become more experienced in nothing, you might like to extend yourself by doing even less. Don’t take something to read on the train; just commute. The next time you finish something, pause for a few minutes, doing nothing, before starting your next something.
The more you do nothing, you might find you’re able to identify where you have created attachments to doing something. Perhaps it’s because you don’t know how to let go and you might just begin to realise that while you can’t do nothing – nothing is a practice in and of itself, just like yoga.
If it’s challenging at first to be with yourself and do absolutely nothing, then try to do as little as you can for that time. Take a walk in nature, lie in the sun, make some notes in your journal, or sit outside under the moonlight. If you spend a moment doing nothing, you will know how you wish your nothing time to be.
In the same way that we like to leave space after a delicious meal before eating again, allow yourself time and space to digest all that goes on within you and around you. See if you can directly experience that something beautiful arises out of nothing at all; a new way of doing that is grounded in being, and creates a life that allows our hearts to sing.
Do you need some time to do nothing at all?