Mid Walsh - Ahimsa for Dudes

Interesting . . . Walsh thinks that his issues with meditating on the quality of ahimsa (non-violence in yoga-speak) may be a guy thing. In this Elephant Journal article, he explains what he means.

Ahimsa for dudes

Via Mid Walsh

on Oct 6, 2011

I do my best not to hurt people, I really do. I don’t kick dogs, I usually don’t eat meat unconsciously; I try not to harm the environment… ( OK, OK.  There isn’t a North American living who doesn’t harm the environment, but my heart is in the right place.)   People meeting me for the first time often describe me as gentle and calm.

So I thought I had ahimsa pretty much under my belt.  Ahimsa is yoga-speak for not being violent.

But last week my yoga teacher gave us a homework assignment that knocked me off my pedestal.  She asked us to meditate for a few minutes each day on the quality of ahimsa.  Today, a week into the assignment, I realize that I’ve been missing the point of ahimsa all along.  And I think it may be a guy thing.

Here’s the guy part.  Like most men I was raised on a steady diet of action.  I did things as a kid –built forts, formed clubs, joined glee clubs and played sports. This continued through my adulthood:  I have delivered project after project to benefit my companies, doing things for a living. For decades; the list of “done” items from my to-do lists would probably circle the globe by now.  I have been rewarded for this, thousands upon thousands of times.

I believe this primary orientation toward action is a guy thing.

Read the whole article.