by Zachary Towne-Smith "Beliefs are the police of the mind." The words of the spoken-word poet Saul Williams (who I recently had the honor to hug) flit around my head in staccato flow. Beliefs and judgements enforce the immigration policies of our minds and impose the ubiquitous western dichotomy - judging right from wrong. Many of us take this for granted in our lives and apply it most mercilessly to ourselves, often interrupting our Yoga practice with the ego’s tendency to compare our asana with the next mat over. This same judgement, or border control, impairs our creative thinking, something we were exploring during our Kula Collective bi-annual Strategic Planning Retreat. |
Julia repeats the question once more. Her playful gaze brings me back to the present and spurs me into spewing another long sequence of possible solutions. I'm bouncing on a trampoline, spouting ideas as quickly as I can while fellow Kula founder Jiya Julia acts as my scribe, writing down EVERYTHING I say without judgement. Scattered around us on the lawn and in the adjacent hot tub are three more pairs, all laughing while generating a huge list of answers that range from breeding lion puppies, to producing viral videos of our Kula Karma programs as we playfully accumulate possibilities.
We are all gathered in California for a few days to find solutions. It's been almost 10 months since we gave birth to the Kula Collective during a similar marathon session on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. While we've accomplished amazing things together across huge distances, there remains much work to be done to deepen our relationships, harmonize our efforts, and prepare for our first offering.
Coby, our timekeeper for the morning signals that our five minutes are up. I bounce down from the trampoline and pick up a pen and my journal. Now it’s my turn to scribe while Julia uses Lunar Thinking to create her own long list of answers to our central question. The term “Lunar Thinking” is something I developed in my work with Caracol Consulting to describe the distinct neuronal process that leads to random association, “brainstorming", and playful idea generation. Basically, it gives freedom to all your ideas to come and go without the customary border control.
Julia collapses to the trampoline after a few minutes of Lunar Thinking’s fluid neuronal processes. As we sift through our long lists, picking out the possible solutions that stand out to us, we change mental gears to the more customary Solar Thinking. Solar Thinking is the opposite of Lunar Thinking; it requires judgement, comparison, and critical analysis. From our long list of Lunar ideas, the next step is to combine and choose, narrowing down toward our solution. Eventually we will join with another pair to do the same, and finally with the whole group we will use our success criteria to settle upon the solutions that will bring us to the crystal clear fractal we are dreaming of.
Once again I think back to Saul Williams, questioning the immigration policy of our minds. My work with individuals and groups helps them get creative ideas past the border patrol.
You can try it yourself at home. First clarify what your question is, and then give as many possible answers as you can. While you do, give your immigration checkpoint a break, either by occupying your brain with motor coordination while walking or jumping on a trampoline, or relaxing while soaking in a hot tub. While you do make sure you’ve got a reliable way to record your ideas, whether it be a scribe, or your cell phone this will free you to dream and reach and play and consider.
Lunar thinking births new possibilities, while Solar thinking manifests them. One can’t exist without the other. How can you get beyond your beliefs and postpone judgement? I assure you that just by attempting, you’ll communicate better, learn new things, and manifest more creative solutions in your life!
So get bouncing =)
Join Zachary to experience Kula Karma community collaborations at these upcoming 200hr Yoga Teacher Trainings: Costa Rica Nov 20-Dec 15 Guatemala Mar 1-25 Or explore the links between your creativity and your Yoga practice at this Transformational Retreat: Creativity & Yoga Guatemala, Jan 3-8 |