Day 208 – Rolf writes about desire: “Our experience of life is like that of a trapeze artist–but instead of rings, we swing from one intense attachment to the next.” He aptly laments that our “consumer attitude” brings us to yoga, but it doesn’t sustain us when all we do is look for results.
In education field, this is the common sentiment: results, results, results, so we test, test, test. Is it, as Rolf suggests in the later years of yoga practice, that as we look for similar results from the past or genuine changes for the better that occur early on, that “we lose sight of the true beauty we have discovered.”
Rolf writes: “All other positive outcomes are by-products of our present-moment awareness.” Mos
t of the students in school that I teach, unfortunately, find striving unrewarding. Their parents, on the other hand, are very attached to the results of their testing and, therefore, negotiate to get their students in classes that give them A’s.
t of the students in school that I teach, unfortunately, find striving unrewarding. Their parents, on the other hand, are very attached to the results of their testing and, therefore, negotiate to get their students in classes that give them A’s. In this reading, Rolf succinctly and implicitly explains how desire for results manifests unhealthy attachment, one that has us vertiably lose the forest for the trees. So, too, for me, learning is like asana prctice, “an immersion into the now.” The work I do both on the mat teaches me to commit “wholeheartedly to the present moment.” In Rolf’s words, “we act in the moment with all our hearts because we are learning that that is all there is.” In this way, my best is an expression of my love for life.
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