There is a concept in Japanese culture called wabi sabi that extends to every area of beauty in life: gardening, art, food, decorating a home. Wabi sabi teaches that there is an innate beauty in imperfection and asymmetry, in the things that stand apart in the world. The philosophy comes from the Buddhist understanding that nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect.
I think this is a beautiful concept to keep reintroducing to Western sensibilities: that it is not what is uniform, proper or perfectly fitted that is beautiful. It is the uniqueness in imperfection that makes a thing beautiful.
Never finished, never perfect
In asana practice, we may spend time expecting our bodies or our practice to be something different: more perfect, more uniform. But that’s not where we grow from. The greatest lessons in our practice come on the journey to understanding that the practice is never finished, never perfect, and may be erratic from time to time. That doesn’t make it any less good, or any less worthy of the effort to turn your attention inward and seek the truth of your being.
Gratitude for all of it
Every day, allow yourself to feel gratitude for the things you may have taken for granted in yourself: the imperfections, the never-finished, the impermanent thoughts, memories, experiences, body, mind and postures. Gratitude for it all. These nuances of the self put us in a unique position to serve others with our unique capabilities, and to elevate ourselves through our unique experiences.
Filling the cracks with gold
In the Japanese art of kintsugi, when a cup cracks, the break is filled with gold: a reminder that the unexpected can bring beautiful results.
Rumi asked, “If you are irritated by every rub, how will you ever become clean?” Ask yourself this each day, as you keep pulling yourself back onto the path.
