Honoring Thresholds
How many times a day do you cross a threshold and enter a building or a room? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines threshold as “ the plank, stone, or piece of timber that lies under a door”, also “the place or point of entering or beginning” and finally “the point at which a physiological or psychological effect begins to be produced". So when we speak of threshold, we are looking at a place or state of transition.
The poet and writer John O’Donohue has described threshold as a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres. In an On Being podcast interview, Mr O’Donohue elaborated that threshold could even be understood as a passage between two different spiritual experiences. This reminds me of the mezuzah, the small scripture parchment affixed to the doorway of a Jewish home. Before one enters the threshold, you touch the mezuzah and then kiss your fingers signaling that you remember God’s commands. This strikes me as a beautiful moment to regroup from the outside world and its views and transition to the heart of home.
Mezuzah are affixed to the outside of a doorway.
The containers holds scriptures from The Book of Deuteronomy that outline the core tenests of the believer.
The practice of yoga offers lots of opportunities to practice and reflect on transition. When we move mindfully from pose to pose, and from activity to rest, we tune into the physical and emotional bodies. Not only are our movements more skillful, we can also practice more safely. Students and teachers alike are often tempted to rush from asana (pose) to asana. Yogis (including me) often crave the pose, not the foundational work. It is the foundational physical and emotional work that opens a fuller version of the pose. If I allow it, the inner and outer work can make me respect myself, and the pose, more. When I transition intentionally from Half Moon Pose to Warrior 2, instead of plopping down with legs flying and arms akimbo, I recruit my muscles to support me. I honor the transition.
Ardha Chandrasana, Half Moon Pose
Thresholds take many different forms. They may appear as physical transitions, like in yoga. They may arise as emotional passages, like when we choose a fresh response instead of our default response. Doorways may even be mental, like when we consciously try to see a new point of view or rationale. Thresholds may even be spiritual. Sometimes something melts in our core and we understand a spiritual matter more deeply. Finally, there is the transition from the earthly plane to the next. Believers of many different faiths agree that earth is more of a school than a final stop. Perhaps this life is preparation for what comes next? I love the idea of honoring the transition as I enter a room, as I do my yoga and as I live my daily life. The in-between is where possibility lives and the future is born.
Doorways may be spiritual. Sometimes something melts in our core and we are inspired to understand a spiritual matter in a whole new light.