Coming Down to Ground: Insights from the Christchurch Earthquake
Dear friends in Yoga,
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who have contacted me here in New Zealand to check on my safety and that of my office manager, Melissa Gardiner as well as our families, friends, neighbours and animals. As many of you now know the earthquake that hit Christchurch on February 22nd left a wave of destruction, destroying much of the central business district and hitting many of the eastern and southern suburbs badly, many of which are still without power and water as of this writing. Unlike the 2010 September quake which hit in the early hours of the morning when most businesses were empty, this quake came in the middle of a busy work day and there has been a tragic loss of life with an estimated death toll of over 200 people.
This event has given my own Yoga practice a bit of a shake-up and confirmed for me the value of having a strongly internalized sense of centre. Years ago my close colleague Dr. Richard Miller shared with me that he felt that Patanjali’s ten ethical precepts known as the Yamas and Niyamas are really emphatic declarations of who we are when our minds and hearts are no longer deluded by the guise of separation. Meaning – when there is no ‘us’ or ‘them’, no ‘you’ and ‘me’, compassion and kindness becomes our first impulse rather than the impulse to harm or to be violent. Similarly, when we no longer feel ourselves to be separate from others, generosity and sharing become our first impulse rather than the impulse to steal or to hoard. Thus each of the ethical “constraints” or yamas can be viewed in it’s positive light as who we really are when we are living in unitive consciousness.
What I’ve learned in the days since this quake is that the overwhelming response of my friends, neighbours and fellow New Zealanders has been one of goodness, kindness and immense generosity. Neighbours who didn’t know each other well before the quake are rallying to share the resources they do have, sharing food and medical supplies, shelter, fuel, child care. People throughout the country of New Zealand have opened their homes to complete strangers needing refuge. Hundreds of firemen, search and rescue teams and policemen from overseas have flown into Christchurch to aid the recovery work. Busloads of high school children armed with wheel barrows, shovels and good cheer are working tirelessly to move tonnes of liquefied sand out of people’s driveways and homes into the streets for collection. Rural farmers have collected and transported clean drinking water into the city where it is needed. As my house was undamaged and still connected to power and water I have taken in the extended family of my dear friends Cameron and James Tukapua. Renee Tukapua, her husband Vinnie and their 6 year-old son Mitchel and 18 month-old daughter Milly are now residents at what is humorously termed the Farhi Marae (marae being a Maori word for communal meeting house). Despite being the kind of person who likes everything immaculately clean and ordered I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find I can fluidly adapt to cracker crumbs on the couch, children’s toys all over the floor, and alot more noise than I’m used to at all hours of the day! As someone who doesn’t like to see dust on the skirting boards or window ledges, it’s been amusing to see my anal-retentive orderly self step aside in service to the bigger picture and actually enjoy the marvelous gift of sharing and being in community with my resident family. And, I’m learning that I don’t need to practice two hours on my mat to face the day –– when there is only ten minutes to have a quiet meditation it’s possible to cut to the chase. Get centred now.
This gives me confidence that a Yoga practice that teaches us to be in and with reality and any practice for that matter that gives us the skills to adapt, change and evolve is really the only practice that makes sense. Because no matter how perfect your Trikonasana is, or how many hours you can sit in meditation, or how many “Jesus Walks on the Water” Qi Gongs you do, it’s not worth a scuffed shoe if it doesn’t add up to being able to love and to act in a loving way. Because as the old adage goes, the only thing that is truly worth tending is what you could take with you in a shipwreck (or an earthquake . . . ). Your body, mind and spirit. I’m hugely grateful to have had a Yoga practice for over 30 years to draw on and overwhelmingly privileged to be alive and well with a roof over my head. As we all move into the year it’s a good time to ask whether our Yoga practice is simply serving to create our own little suspended reality of quasi-calm, or if, when push comes to shove it’s preparing us to be in the world with it’s harsh need to change us. May this message find you well and using this life to give and receive love.
blessings,
Donna
Insight Column
Donna's latest insight column 'The Courage to Give Birth' is now available for your perusal by clicking on the following link: The Courage to Give Birth
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