These Are the Days of Our Lives 📺
What if the story isn’t true?
The Days of Our Lives soap opera has run since 1965 and has over 15,000 episodes.
I didn’t think I’d be citing a soap opera stat in a yoga blog post, but here we are. And it’s all because my teacher, Christopher Wallis, said something in a recent lecture that stuck with me.
He asked:
What if someone gave you the box set of the entire show and you spent every waking hour watching it?
Day after day, you’d follow the drama. The years would roll on (3.5 to be exact…if you watched for 12 hours per day). And it’s only human: you’d become enthralled. You’d care about the characters as if they were real. You’d be wrapped up in the storylines. Your perspective would go from more variegated to very Days of Our Lives-y.
The Soap Opera of the Mind
This, he said, is something like what happens when we are completely wrapped up in the discursive mind—when it goes unobserved. It’s an imperfect metaphor, of course, but let’s be honest: some of the stories our minds conjure are just as unrealistic as the best daytime TV has to offer.
This is why we practice.
Not to stop the thoughts or silence the stories. Like soap operas, they’ll always be there. The mind is, after all, an organ that makes thoughts.
Why We Practice: Making Space from Thought
But contemplative practice gives us breathing room around the thoughts. It helps us recognize that not everything the mind says is worth following down the rabbit hole. Not every story we conjure is true.
And a wider perspective is possible—and available.
There are many ways to turn off the metaphorical TV.
Take a walk in the woods.
Really listen to someone.
Look into their eyes.
Dance.
Or—as your yoga guide, I naturally recommend—the ancient technology of yoga. It invites us to shift from eyes glued to the screen, blinds pulled tight… to letting in some sunlight and looking up at the sky.
Turning Off the Mental TV: Small Shifts, Big Perspective
Small shifts matter.
Take a look at our class schedule and sign up for a session.
Put it on your calendar.
Let your life wait while you soften your body, settle your mind, and return with fresh perspective.
You’re not alone.
You are loved.
There is a safe place waiting for you, where you can rest and expand.
“Beyond the pressures to prove your worth and beyond the expectations of who you thought you had to be, you are free to wander and imagine worlds that are filled with possibilities.
You are free to explore open meadows that remind you: there is more to life beyond the limits you’ve outgrown . . . You are free to turn towards horizons that illuminate the audacity to try again, another day.
And even if it takes time to fully imagine what this might feel like, and the sun rays take forever to stretch out into full beams, may you remember that the process of imagining alone is filled with more richness than it seems. Thoughtfully caring for the groundwork of good things still matters, even before it feels like anything more than a dream.
So breathe. Say goodbye to holding back. Notice the pathways running through the forest floor. Dare to imagine what could flourish beyond all the constraints you’ve known before.”