Practice and Flow
1 MAKING IDEAS A PART OF US
Learning an idea it becomes a part of us when we understand it, completely. The idea might be that of a yoga pose or a sequence of yoga poses. The idea might be that of riding a motorcycle or learning a type of dance like the Rhumba. Or it could be the idea of providing customers with really good coffee in a nice setting.
It could be learning how to solve a particular type of math problem. It could be the idea of being healthy, or the idea of being able to speak without swearing, or the idea of being wealthy.
The idea might be physical in nature, something we do with our body or something we connect to that is outside of our body. The idea might be the idea of our body itself.
When we have learned an idea and made it a part of us we don’t have to think about doing it or using it, instead we can watch ourselves as we make the idea real. It’s as if when we make the idea a part of us we can then express the idea whenever we choose and however we choose.
How do we know an idea is a part of us? When we can express ourselves freely with it. When we no longer have to “check the answers…” or we still do check the answers but they are always right.
Lets say the idea is learning to solve a particular type of math problem. Practicing, we try out a problem and then check our answers. If we answer the question incorrectly then we look at our attempted solution to see where or why we went wrong and then we try again. Eventually we get to the point where we can answer that problem and any other problem of the same kind correctly. When we can answer problems and get the answer right then the idea is a part of us. We might even get to the point where the solutions seem to flow from our pen (or pencil).
When we have learned an idea we don’t have to stop to think about it we can just do it. Then we can go and learn other ideas. With respect to math problems, the more basic skills that we have as part of us, the easier it is for us to solve more complex problems. We can simply break complex problems down into smaller and simpler steps which we can solve with the ideas that are a part of us. And so the small idea of being able to solve a particular type of math problem might be part of the bigger idea of being able to solve any type of problem.
Learning to ride a motorbike means learning several ideas. Perhaps the most important of these is learning how to use the brakes to slow down and stop. Then there is the idea of learning to speed up. When are these ideas a part of us? When we can do them both smoothly while keeping the bike under control, when we can do them both at any speed and in any conditions. Add to these ideas the idea of steering and then we can ride a bike. Oh, I almost forgot, there’s the key idea of balance. When all of these ideas are a part of us we don’t have to put special attention on each one as we do it. Instead we can get on with the doing the big idea, that of riding a bike.
2 SEQUENCES FRAMEWORKS FOR EXPRESSION
Some ideas that we can learn and make a part of us are made up of sequences of smaller ideas. The beauty of these is that once we learn the sequence we don’t have to worry about what comes next we just focus on the part of the sequence we are in now.
It may take some work to learn a sequence. The beauty of having done the work is that we no longer have to rely on someone else to lead us, we can get on with doing it.
Tai Ji is one such idea that is made up of sequences of ideas. Having learned the sequence we then have the ultimate experience (?) of being able to lead our body with our mind because we know the next posture and as a result we can connect the posture we are in smoothly to the posture we are going into.
Some ideas that we learn are frameworks of smaller ideas. A framework of ideas is possibly more difficult than learning a sequence of ideas but the benefits are even more freedom. We might choose to learn several different sequences and so have variety but learning a framework of ideas we can create our own sequences. Another alternative is breaking down known sequences into smaller ideas and then putting those ideas together into other sequences.
In universal yoga one part of the framework is learning the basic possible movements for each joint and combinations of adjacent joints. This gives us the opportunity not only of seeing what our body is capable of it also allows us to look at any yoga pose (or tai ji pose for that matter) and see exactly how the bones of each joint are positioned in that pose. As a result we can pick poses according to how they affect each joint, and even though we many never do the same sequence twice, with our framework of expression we can still do a practice that results in a body that is balanced as well as having improved flexibility and strength.
3 LEARNING BIT BY BIT OR BITE BY BITE
Say we want to learn a big idea that is made up of sequences of ideas, or a framework of smaller ideas. We might try to learn each smaller idea at a time or break the small ideas into even smaller ideas. Or might try to learn a group of small ideas that might be related. Which is the best way, it depends on the context and ourselves. We’ll use a food analogy for this.
Sitting down to eat a large dinner most of us eat it a bite at a time. Depending on our preference some of us like bit bites and some of us like little bites. Some of us like to eat bites that have only one kind of food, others or us like to combine foods in one mouthful and some of us do both, depending on the food and the way we feel. Which ever the case, if we take big bites, then there is less room in our mouth to chew and even less room to talk at the same time. And so chewing becomes a lengthy process unless the option of swallowing partially chewed food is adopted.
Taking small bites we have lots of room to chew and we have the added advantage of still being able to talk… Now if we take bites that are too small then our food cools down before we finish it. So there is an optimum bite size (or range of bite sizes) for eating. Not too big and not too small, just right.
Likewise learning an idea. If we break a big idea down into chunks that are too big then we only partially masticate each idea. Too small and it takes us forever to learn and by that time our passion has cooled. So what’s the best bite size for each of us? Experience will tell us. Assuming we do find the right bite size, the most important thing is chewing it completely so that it becomes a part of us.
Or we can do what cows do and after initially digesting our bites of food regurgitate it to chew it some more at a later time.
Some of my main influences for basic principles have come from software design (and discussions about the lack of it) and one technique for software design, and any type of design is making small components that work.
Say we make a component with a specific function, perhaps adding two numbers together. We check it to make sure that it can answer any type of sum correctly. When we know that it works in all situations then we can add it to other components that work. We make the idea a part of our library. With all of these other ideas that have been tested and known to work we can then focus on putting these components together into the idea of bigger designs. So then our focus can on bigger designs which can do more and more complex things, and if something isn’t working, it will be less likely that it is a component not working but a fault in the design, and so we can focus on refining our design technique.
The beauty of small components is that they are pretty easy to check while they are being built. Because testing is done at a small enough level it is very easy to isolate problems rather than the problem of actually locating the source of the problem and then the process of design and building becomes a lot less complex. Then they can be combined with other parts that work and are known to work.
Going back to the food analogy, if we eat at one restaurant and then afterwards get food poisoning its pretty easy to figure out the source of our ailment. However if in one night we go from restaurant to restaurant or party to party eating food here and there and at the end of the night fall sick, we’d have to search through a lot of vomit to figure out the cause of our ailment. And in the process discover that it was simply because we ate too much food.
We can apply this idea of an optimum bite size to learning to run a business, to learning a new job, or learning a new body movement. We may also find that as we gain experience, even though we still continue to learn what we learn is built on what we already know and so we can take bigger and bigger bites.
4 BIG IDEAS
Learning a sequence of tai ji movements or learning a framework for drawing the human body there is a purpose that guides us.
Say we want to learn to draw the human body so that we can draw it in yoga poses, and we want to draw without needing a model. Then we learn the relationships within the body and how they change as the body moves and as the viewing angle changes. Thus we develop a framework for expressing the body while drawing it and the idea that holds that framework together is the idea of drawing the body freely.
Riding a bike is a framework of ideas, that framework includes braking, accelerating and steering but it is the idea of riding that holds that framework together.
Opening a coffee shop the idea might be that of a fine coffee bean tradition combined with the setting of a European coffee house. That idea can then be used to pull together all the other ideas that are a part of it.
5 TESTING, FEELING
When we have big ideas, or small ideas they give us a reference point, something to aim for and also something to mark our progress against. As we learn ideas we can stop and check our progress to see how we are doing and then adjust what we are doing so that we actually do what we are trying to do. It’s like driving a car and checking the speedometer to make sure that we are within the posted speed limits, or at least not excessively above it.
Earlier I talked about learning to do specific kinds of math problems, and checking the answers in the process. Initially we might look to see if the final step of the answer is correct, and then we find it isn’t so we backtrack to see exactly where we went wrong. As we learn an idea more and more, we become more aware of all the steps between seeing the problem and getting to the answer, like we are checking ourselves every step of the way. And that’s really when the idea is a part of us, when we are aware of all the parts of the idea, or when we understand all of the steps of an idea.
Eventually we get to the point where we no longer have to stop and test, the testing process becomes a natural part of us, we test as we actually express the idea, we watch ourselves doing it and correct as we go. We enter the flow.
6 FLOWING, A WHOLE BODY EXPERIENCE
Water flows because gravity pulls it. Water also flows because it is being pushed, pressure is applied to it. And water flows when it has a defined path down which to flow. If we have a hose but nothing to push water with then water doesn’t flow. Add some means of pumping water or pressuring it then water flows down the well defined channel of the hose.
Learning an idea, making it a part of ourselves, we learn well defined limits within which we can flow and it is because those limits are within us that we can flow. This is another way of saying that we understand all of the parts of the idea.
The thing about flow is that it is not just one drop of water that flows, all of the water within a hose pipe flows. Some drops may flow faster than others but they are all a part of the thing we call flow.
Learning an idea, if it is a body movement, then we learn what every part of ourselves is doing. Every part of ourselves knows what we are doing. Then all of our body can flow within the limits we’ve learned.
We can imagine that it is the big idea that provides the force that causes water to flow. The framework or sequence of ideas that make up the idea provide the limits which help to direct the flow (of movement).
When all the smaller parts of the big idea are a part of us then we can flow between the limits of each of the smaller ideas and so make the big idea a reality.
And so in addition to having purpose and a framework for expressing it within, one of the ways we can think of learning a new thing, particularly if it is a body movement, is how can we get the whole of ourselves involved. What are our feet doing, our legs, our hips, pelvis and waist, and what about our ribcage and arms and neck and head? Are they all unified in what we are doing? Do we even know what we are doing?
We can apply the same idea to our business or our relationship. Are all the parts of ourselves aligned with what we are trying to do? Do we know what we are trying to do? Do we know the limits within which we can flow? The better defined the limits the more freedom we have to concentrate on moving within them. And they don’t have to be tight limits, just well defined, so that we know what they are (or the people we are teaching them to know).
When we know what we are doing it, it’s that much easier to do it and at the same time connect to the world outside of ourselves. It’s like we become an advertisement for ourselves.
“This is who I am. This is what I am doing.”
And it is clear for everyone to see.
