While they sometimes outdo themselves, it’s clear that the forces of irony and synchronicity are always hard at work.
In the same way, I’m reminded of my own paraphrase of a line from the Sufi mystic Hafiz (really from his “translator,” Daniel Ladinsky) that has helped me through many rocky moments lately.
There’s never a shortage at the idiot factory.
In a weird blending of irony and stupidity, I found that, in the very week I returned to social media, Facebook sent me a notification that one of my posts had been taken down.
In their words, “it may use misleading links or content to trick people to visit, or stay on, a website.”
I can assure you that I had no malevolent intentions, but much more significantly, the post was almost a decade old.
Clearly, someone at Meta is not on top of their Watchdog Game.
I actually remember the post very well because it was particularly charming.
Someone filmed my yoga student Shelley immediately after she had a breakthrough with Crow Pose, a balancing posture.
Taking flight for the first time, Shelley’s glee was infectious and delightful to witness.
And through a little detective work, I found what I had written about her 2016 experience:
People usually think the secret to arm balances is greater upper-body strength or more core strength.
But it’s not about “muscling through.”
Instead, it’s usually two things:
- Leaning your heart forward a little more than is comfortable
- Keeping your heart lifted at the same time.
The same applies to everything worthwhile in life.
You’ve gotta stick your neck out a little more than feels safe and, at the same time, stay lifted so you don’t collapse and fall flat on your face.
An old photo of me in Flying Crow, a harder variation of Crow Pose
Shelley was not my only student intrigued by balancing poses.
When I was teaching privately, I had one student in particular—let’s call him “Irv”—who was fit but also very tight and very stressed.
He was also a very successful record producer.
Knowing that he had the strength for the arm balance, he became quite passionate—some might say obsessed—about getting into the pose.
He was an excellent student and very soon, he nailed it.
My favorite moment with Irv, however, involved a different kind of balancing.
As often happened, we became friends and hung out socially.
Once, he came to a midwinter dinner party at my old Chinatown loft.
During the dinner, a friend of mine—let’s call her “Ivy”—famous for her chatty comments and bratty opinions, started offering commentary on various pop stars, perhaps because the Grammy nominees had just been announced.
Ivy would make an extreme pronouncement about a musical celebrity.
Irv would quietly counter with something like “She’s actually a really hard worker.”
The irony was that Irv actually knew, and had worked with, almost everyone Ivy was dishing dirt on.
Throughout, he resisted the temptation to produce the conversational smoking gun: “I actually produced her last album.”
That’s a kind of real-life balancing pose I wish I could master.
The Hafiz poem I paraphrased seems worth sharing entirely, particularly after a holiday season when we are often gathered with those we love dearly … and those who provoke us most.
(Sometimes they’re even the same people.)
The Idiot’s Warehouse
I know the idiot’s warehouse
Is always full.I know each of us
Could run back and forth from there
All day longAnd show everyone our vast collection.
Though tonight, Hafiz,
Retire from the madness for an hour,Gather with some loyal friends
Or sit aloneAnd
Sing beautiful songsTo God.
This week, I was already thinking about Crow Pose — but not because of that Shelley post or Irv.
Instead, I was thinking about Tony, another student of mine who, like Irv, was a fit guy determined to achieve it.
Tony, however, struggled for much longer.
The pose eluded him for months.
One day, however, the breakthrough happened and he was able to hold it for several breaths.
Delighted and proud, he exclaimed that “What you said today about spreading the fingers really made all the difference.”
I smiled and gently reminded him that for the last six months I had given the same cues every time he attempted the pose.
Today didn’t have any new information.
Today was just the day you decided to listen.
Speaking of which…
Vlad and I went into the studio to film a series of promos this week.
I did some solo spots but he adds so much production value, it’s crazy not to use him whenever possible.
Some videos were for DailyOM offerings; others were for the Science of Getting Rich Journal launch; the one above is for the new course that starts this Tuesday.
Speaking with a private coaching client this week, I realized that this course’s topic might be a little unclear.
I’m (perhaps foolishly) not using all the classic marketing tricks of naming a single benefit or targeting a specific problem.
(Think Matt Dillon in There’s Something About Mary: selling Five-Minute Abs and short-circuiting when someone mentions a four-minute version.)
I share more about the content in this video HERE:
Off-the-record, this course is more about my continuing education in Reinvention.
Since I’m doing all this research and exploration on the five topics I’m covering — Purpose, Gratitude, Visualization, Faith, and Effective Action — for the Journal launch, I wanted to share all of that in process.
Having a teaching deadline forces me to complete the work and synthesize something valuable.
I don’t have all the conclusions or benefits yet, but I do know the theme: how do we make change in our lives that is both powerful and lasting.
You can find out all the details — and watch Vlad in the video — HERE.
The Crow Pose post Facebook removed with Shelley reminded me that sometimes a few adjustments can make all the difference in the world.
In her case, it meant leaning a little uncomfortably forward while keeping the heart lifted.
Other times, it’s not so much new information that makes the difference.
Sometimes to affect change, it might be a rephrasing that resonates.
Or it could be the truth that—as the alchemical proverb stated for decades outside Jivamukti Yoga—
Repetition is magic.
More than that, though — like with Tony and Crow Pose — I think transformation happens most powerfully on the day we finally accept the invitation to listen, accessing the wisdom that life’s been offering us each step along the way.