Mandalas and Detachment

The word mandala has shown up twice in the past few days so I figured it has to have some significance beyond even where it showed up. I saw an article about how cities are fractal mandalas when you look at them. Then in yesterday's yoga class the teacher said she was using the mandala this week during all of her classes so the transitions would be a little different than usual.

She talked about how the mandala was essentially a circle and that it was considered perfect because of how things were equidistant from the midpoint and all that. And how we are complete and perfect as we are. Her mantra is that practice makes progress; we are already perfect.

Our transitions brought us in circles around our mat or we rolled in circles on our body and we ended the practice where we started, making a circle. She also talked about the Buddhist monks who make sand mandalas and how they spend hours and hours creating beautiful mandalas just to have them swept away by the wind once they are finished.

That the mandalas themselves may have been blown away in the wind, but the intention, the beauty that was created would never be gone. And that was how it is on our mats. We spend time and intention in our poses. They don't last, but the intention and what was created doesn't disappear because it's over.

It's a good lesson about impermanence and that impermanence is not to be mourned. When we understand impermanence, it makes the present moment all the more precious.

Another interesting coincidence is that it's National Coloring Book Day on Twitter. Mandalas are popular in adult coloring books now. A connection I thought of is that the circle is the same in all of them, but the insides are different and have twists and turns and curves and lines that create a beautiful and peaceful chaos. We are all perfect and complete. And our chaos can be beautiful and peaceful on the inside if we relax and focus on the present moment and detach from the outcome. Focus on the process and not the results.

When you color a mandala, you color tiny bits of it at a time. You don't usually worry about the final picture. You pick a color and start coloring little bits of the design. No matter which colors you choose, it will usually turn out beautiful. Sometimes people choose similar colors. Sometimes people choose colors that don't seem to go together at all. But the finished mandala is usually wonderful because you don't focus on the outcome as you color.

Another reminder of circles comes from my favorite show and character: Morgan Jones quoting Eastman on Tbe Walking Dead. It's all a circle and everything gets a return. I don't do Aikido, but I love yoga. I like wearing my KBuddah wrist bands to yoga. They are circles. I will try to use them as a reminder to detach. To be present.

The yoga teacher that I had yesterday was my yoga teacher today for 2 classes. I've had her for 3 styles of yoga now: sculpt, hatha, and restorative. She is my favorite yoga teacher since Jenny from Lifetime. I have liked most of my yoga teachers, but this teacher has made yoga really fun!

That's another reminder of the mandala. It's just fun. When you are present on the mat it's fun. If you fall, you fall. It's better to fall and try something than to not try it. I love trying crow any time they give you a chance. I enjoy balancing for even a split second. We tried rolling up to a flat footed squat. I tried 5 or 6 times and I never got there. But I tried it and it was fun.

She is like Khris. She has challenged me more and I've pushed more in really subtle ways and seen really interesting improvements from specific cues and adjustments. And she has been really compassionate and helped me soften and care for myself.

I understand the zen garden more now. I gave Khris some kind of water painting chalkboard thing once. I understand that concept more now, too. It's an exercise in detachment. I always understood the meditative idea of the creating part, but I like the idea of the impermanence part.

You can't get attached to whatever you create because it won't last. The sand will be raked away or the water will evaporate. You have to enjoy it while it lasts. It also allows you to feel freer to experiment and explore your creativity rather than get so paralyzed by fear of how it will turn out. Knowing that it's not meant to be something that needs to be saved forever gives you more space. More freedom. Permission to make mistakes.

I might have to get myself a mandala coloring book.