Stack the Blocks: Reflections on Practice

The Confidence of Knowing
Reflections on Practice

Quite some months ago, our youngest daughter was building a tower of yoga blocks in the studio between classes. As she diligently stacked each block, a yoga teacher walked by, smiled, and complimented her work.

Jade responded confidently, "I know."

We couldn’t help but laugh at her certainty. How often do we, as adults, recognize our Selves with such clarity and confidence? Jade reminds us of an essential truth about yoga and life: We don’t ‘stack the blocks’ to become perfect.

Practice isn’t about striving for some distant ideal. Instead, it’s an expression of our perfection - a reflection of who we already are. Motivation doesn’t come from trying to change or achieve, but rather from being truly as much Self as possible.

So we practice - not to fix, not to chase - but simply for the sake of practice itself. We ‘stack the blocks’ simply because it feels right. Because there is nothing we need to gain that isn’t already here, right now.

We, too, can approach our practice with a sense of trust.

As Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, sometimes named the Grandfather of Zen, beautifully said:
“All of you are perfect just as you are… and you could use a little improvement.”
Both are true, happening simultaneously.

Take a breath. Stack your bones into a tower of a pose, whichever it may be, and trust the quiet confidence of knowing - it is, and you are, just perfect.

AND… keep going, keep practicing and keep growing.