Can you imagine taking a vow of silence for a certain period of time? Say, one week? How about a month? How about a year? Many of us would dismiss the idea as a near impossible feat, or at least crazy and unnecessary.
A 27-year-old personal trainer by the name of James Aspey chose to be silent for 365 days. He chose to be voiceless so he can raise awareness on behalf of the voiceless animals. He is an animal rights activist who wants the world to know that chickens, pigs, cows and all other sentient beings deserve the right not to be harmed. What he did is a perfect example of creative action. He did not have a lot of money. He was not a celebrity who had followers by the millions. He took action by taking stock of what is already available to him, and made the best out of it. Instead of focusing on limitations, he worked with possibilities. In our asana practice, we are confronted by many limitations of our physical body. Perhaps we struggle with an inversion because of fear of falling. Maybe we have difficulty doing forward bends because of tight hamstrings. We all have something. Creative action is to see the same boundaries not as barriers but as opportunities to find creative expression. We work with what we have and we make the best out of it. We all have something; Creative action is to be not limited by it but to be freed by it. Just as we can turn our asana into creative actions with the right intention, so it is that we can turn our everyday actions into extraordinary ones. Whenever we practice and recommit to the promise of "May all beings be happy and free", we pledge to use what is available to us to bring the most amount of happiness in the world. It could mean going vegan to save animals from being harmed. It could mean extending our kindness to those who least expect it. It could mean being conscious of the environmental impact of our choices. When we take stock of what we ourselves can do in a world where many things seem to be out of our control, we take personal responsibility to create instead of destruct. And then, we can truly say we are taking creative action.
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