Yoga is about untying the knots of our pesky habit patterns and welcoming in each moment fresh and unadulterated by past or future.
Whenever something becomes habitual, it's worthwhile to take a look to see if it still serves, if it is appropriate to the situation at hand. Brushing teeth in the manner I do? Check. Dressing myself? Check. Riding my bike? Check. All good habits that, fortunately, I can do well without too much conscious effort. These tasks are set on autopilot freeing me up for deeper contemplation - or daydreaming.
I've been at my current place for over a year now. There is a dishwasher in the kitchen. Like microwaves, it's simply not an appliance I am in the habit of using. Neither has been a part of my kitchen routine. I like to wash dishes. Only trouble is, the drying rack fills up midway through the pile then I leave the rest to soak in the water that over time becomes cold and well, skanky.
After having a house full of guests and walking in to the kitchen to see a counter covered in glasses and mugs, I thought "Hey, I'll check out that dishwasher thingy." Wow. So slick. You just put everything in there. Apply some electricity and automatically fed water and voila! Cleand AND dry dishes. I use it all the time now.
For several years, I lived out of a back pack. I could use only what I could carry. I washed my dishes at the river's edge using sand as the scrubber. No makeup, no hair dryer, no pajamas, nothing extraneous at all. It's been more years that I've not been a backpacker than I have and I've still not quite adjusted. I started wearing pajamas about five years ago. I do have a hair dryer that I am slowly becoming familiar with. The makeup and fashion "accessories" are still largely a mystery to me.
The dishwasher insight revealed to me how long one can go on living with a habit or held belief that may be completely out of synch with the way life is actually unfolding. There was absolutely no reason for me not to use the dishwasher, other than I wasn't in the habit of doing so. It's a simple shift but inspires more. It nudges me further on the path of examining what I am doing and why I am doing it. What kind of habits or beliefs are running your life that may not be in service of the present moment?
