As we take our practice off-the-mat into our daily lives, a great place to begin is with our speech. Try spending a day (or a few hours) in silence and discover how much energy is expended by talking! In conversations ask yourself if are you doing most of the talking, the listening, or if it is a balanced exchange. When you listen, do you find yourself continuously nodding and offering affirming “uh-huh”s? Begin to notice how what you are saying affects your mood, your physical body. Notice the effect it has on others. Lastly, let what you say first pass through the Four Gates of Speech:
1. Is it true?
2. Is it beneficial (kind)?
3. Is it necessary?
4. Is it timely?
These Four Gates, with their Sufi roots, are closely aligned with Right Speech within the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. The idea is that we speak non-harming truth when necessary. There are times we have all found ourselves telling a “white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. But in doing this we haven’t been truthful. If we take our statement through all four gates we may find that it was not even necessary or timely. In our fast paced society there is a general belief that issues needs to be resolved immediately. In following the path of yoga we want to act in ways which are life-affirming, ways that elevate our consciousness in order to see ourselves as part of everything else. To realize that what we think, say, and do has a ripple effect beyond what we imagine. If we work collectively to only say things that are truthful, kind, necessary and timely, it stands to reason that our actions will not be far behind.
Thank you, Christina, for this timely reminder of yet another way in which we might bring our practice off of our mats. This is also a gentle reminder, I think, that ‘Yoga’ is not just the postures that we perform on our mats, but is also a practice rooted in morality and ethics–yet almost a ‘kinder, gentler’ moral/ethical practice. That is, without commanding ‘thou shalt not,’ the practice asks us to check in with ourselves, to become our own commander, to really begin to examine our own thinking, speech, actions, efforts, perceptions, and intentions. And so, while on our mats, in, say, Trikonasana, we might become aware of our self-talk, and use the Four Gates to assess whether that speech is Right. Only by beginning with ourselves can we then create a world that is more peaceful. Namaste.
I so much am acquainted with the thought of the crimes committed with our tongue. I try and make it a practice to speak as less as possible. For fear of indulging in the things that effects my emotional state of mind. This was and is a mindful reminder an I hope one if I live to see my life span doesn’t harm others.