leave it behind at the river
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Sunday, February 16, 2014
So many things happen in life that are annoying, but to live a stress-free life, you have to learn how to "leave it behind at the river".
The saying being from the story of the 2 monks crossing a river. One carried a lady from one side to the other. A way down the road, the other monk asked the first one why he did that, when they weren't even supposed to talk to ladies. The first monk said he'd left her behind at the river, where the second monk was still carrying her.
Anyway, today my knees were giving me grief - while I taught the kids, my mind went away from my knees and I was fine on them. Tai chi is often like that, once you get stuck in, your practise takes you away from whatever mental or physical pain, which is great!
Later today, I went to the park and sat watching the birds on the water, since I couldn't manage much more with my knees. Still, they weren't bad enough to complain, so when I got on the train, I was happy enough to stand, since there weren't any seats free. In my pre-tai chi days, I would have noticed how very many fit young people were sitting, while older crocks like myself were standing, but today I just thought how nice it was to be able to practise my horse stance....
Despite one of my friends telling me horse stance is bad for arthritis, my own experience is that it helps tremendously. Not to overdo it, nor to bend the knees too much, but just a light gentle horse stance for a little while, every day and every so often, really helps me with reducing knee pain over time.
So, instead of getting frustrated at these fit young people, I enjoyed my horse stance and left my possible frustration behind at the river. And that particular thought helps with a lot of life's frustrations, not just physical stuff, but when people generally are behaving in a less-than-helpful manner, I think to myself about "leaving them at the river" and that soon enough they and their weird behaviour will be gone and in the past. This helps wonderfully: whenever I come across particularly annoying types or situations, I can just smile and carry on in my own way, into my own stress-free future!
The saying being from the story of the 2 monks crossing a river. One carried a lady from one side to the other. A way down the road, the other monk asked the first one why he did that, when they weren't even supposed to talk to ladies. The first monk said he'd left her behind at the river, where the second monk was still carrying her.
Anyway, today my knees were giving me grief - while I taught the kids, my mind went away from my knees and I was fine on them. Tai chi is often like that, once you get stuck in, your practise takes you away from whatever mental or physical pain, which is great!
Later today, I went to the park and sat watching the birds on the water, since I couldn't manage much more with my knees. Still, they weren't bad enough to complain, so when I got on the train, I was happy enough to stand, since there weren't any seats free. In my pre-tai chi days, I would have noticed how very many fit young people were sitting, while older crocks like myself were standing, but today I just thought how nice it was to be able to practise my horse stance....
Despite one of my friends telling me horse stance is bad for arthritis, my own experience is that it helps tremendously. Not to overdo it, nor to bend the knees too much, but just a light gentle horse stance for a little while, every day and every so often, really helps me with reducing knee pain over time.
So, instead of getting frustrated at these fit young people, I enjoyed my horse stance and left my possible frustration behind at the river. And that particular thought helps with a lot of life's frustrations, not just physical stuff, but when people generally are behaving in a less-than-helpful manner, I think to myself about "leaving them at the river" and that soon enough they and their weird behaviour will be gone and in the past. This helps wonderfully: whenever I come across particularly annoying types or situations, I can just smile and carry on in my own way, into my own stress-free future!
Tags: "leave behind" stress-free annoying
