Creative problem solving

Last week, I held a ladder for my friend, Dean. And that was yoga.

He needed to attend to an often overlooked (but crucial) homeowner’s chore: cleaning out the gutters.

It’s a task that some people might consider risky, dangerous, or even unpleasant. It’s a task that’s tempting to ignore, avoid, delay….until emergency strikes, in the form of heavy rainfall.

Dean chose a wiser (and ultimately easier) path. He set aside adequate time on a beautiful spring day, created the safety he needed (a willing ladder-holder), prepared well and got it done.

That’s creative problem solving at its best. That’s yoga.

Along the way, Dean showed me how to

• brace the extension ladder,
• create and use a pulley system for transporting tools and debris,
• use a garden hose to test the downspouts for blockages
• close up the ladder, coil up the ropes and hoses and
• suspend the ladder from a basement ceiling for storage.

Dean and I talked while we worked. The chore reminded us both of our fathers. My dad grew up in an old farmhouse, the eldest son in a large, chaotic and loving immigrant family of modest means. To him, the repairs were never-ending and complicated. They required multiple trips to the hardware store, long discussions with the oldest man there, and extraordinary levels of patience and persistence. Dean’s dad was equally inventive and handy. He taught himself auto repair to save money on mechanical labor.

The whole gutter-cleaning process took about 90 minutes. It was satisfying, enjoyable, interesting. Just like yoga has the potential to be.

Hatha yoga (more specifically Ashtanga yoga) offers an accessible, structured and proven approach to teaching and learning competence.

Consistent committed practice teaches us to prepare well, act with confidence and survey our handiwork…and to continually refine our efforts.

It offers concrete tools for research and evaluation (or allies, as teacher David Garrigues calls them) in the form of:

1. foundation/skeletal alignment
2. the axis of the spine
3. free breathing, according to the posture
4. drishti/gaze
5. bandhas/mudras

Ashtanga yoga has the power to teach us to fully inhabit our bodies, our homes, our lives and our society. To appreciate and rise to the full expression of our power. Both personally and collectively.

Slow down. Notice what needs doing. And do it. Do it well, with forethought, honest evaluation and no expectation of reward.

Do your yoga (and your chores). Now. Teach your children to do the same.

It’s a powerful, productive and deeply satisfying way to live.