I teach a yoga course for children entitled “stones of compassion”. What I do is teach the principals of yama and niyama through stories and life experiences. In order to make it creative and enticing for the kids, I give them a special “yoga stone” when they have grasped the meaning of each principle. So, in preparing for the lesson on “saucha” or cleanliness, I was sitting on the floor with my silver and gold sharpies, writing saucha and cleanliness on river rocks over and over again. After about 20 rocks my mind began drifting and I misspellt cleanliness.
I forgot the “in” and ended up with “Cleanless”. WOW! I laughed so hard at my seeming mistake, and realized it was really a message to myself. To just chill out, and literally clean-less. I find that I could spend all day cleaning, cooking,doing laundry yada yada, and never fit in time for a story, a practice or a swim.
A friend of mine recently said that a clean house is the sign of an unlived life. Well, I thrive in order and cleanliness, but of course there is truth to her words. If we spent our lives at home, polishing, waxing, dusting, mopping,vaccuuming, doing dishes,there would be a lot of “living” that we would miss out on.
Again, in my true Libra form, I say, everything in balance.
Namaste.
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“Everything in balance” is so well put Dhana!
I don’t mind doing dishes, as a matter of fact, I find enjoyment in it from time to time. The other day, I found myself very relaxed & calm as I was doing the dishes after a delicious dinner with my fiance. Looking at all the plates, bowls, chopsticks, pots; my mind started re-living how much I enjoyed cooking & eating this wonderful meal with someone I love so much.
I suppose “living” is whatever you make out of it.
It all depends on the person, doesn’t it? Some need the “cleanliness” reminder, others need the “clean less.” I suspect that most people need the former. Instead of doing major annual/seasonal/moving overhauls, it is actually simpler (and much less time-consuming) to keep tidy daily. But, I agree, life is messy and we can’t get too OC about it.