ROGER WRITES | Emergence vs. Homeostasis

Let me preface this article by telling you that in four days I turn 40.  It's no big deal, except that it is.

A month ago I signed up for 8 weeks of life coaching with Tommy Faricy.  I finished my first month last Monday.  He challenges me to think new thoughts, helps me to see things from a different perspective, and encourages me to go to the places that scare me.  He reminds me of what Joseph Campbell said: "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."  I resist, of course.  It's my job to resist.  But his patience, diligence, and passion have made a huge impact on how I am moving forward with my life.

Two weeks agao he shared with me the concepts of emergence and homeostasis.  Emergence is the process of coming into being, and homeostasis is the process of keeping everything the same.  We focused primarily on emergence because, well, my life lately has been too much about homeostatis, which is why I started the life coaching sessions in the first place.

I've thought about these two concepts every day since then.  I've explored both sides, and I've realized the necessity of both of them.  We all want to emerge, to be our best, to be successful, alive, awake, and radiant.  However, too much of that can cause us to feel manic and oftentimes leads to a crash-and-burn experience, which is why we also need the otherside: the ground, the bones, the nuts and bolts.  It's also important and necessary to have elements in our lives that are constant and steady, but when we have too much groundedness we can easily fall into inertia and depression.

Recently, I've re-awakened my passion to move toward more complex asanas and movements.  I've been exploring and using these two dynamic forces in my practice.   I find that when I strive, push and reach out for these postures too much, I fall, I tumble, I loose my ground, and that's when I'm most at risk for injury.  When I recognize that is happening, I come back to my breath.  I come back to my bones.  I connect to my feet.  I let go of outcome and return to the practice.

Then there are those days when I get to my mat and my bones are heavier than my will; days when I think, "meh."  In those moments, I can decide to do something different.  I try a new pose.  I take some energizing breaths.  I pray for a miracle.  I let go of outcome and return to the practice.

On and off the mat it's important to strike a balance between the emergent energy required for transformation and the consistency needed for that transformation to last.

P.S.  Anyone have a Corvette for sale?