Image Credit - 'Gothic Doorway' by The Rabbit
One of my favorite practices in the last few months, both as a student and a teacher, is to create and cross thresholds. Ordinarily, we consider a threshold is a physical object at the entrance to a structure of some kind, say a home or a business. In sacred places like temples or monasteries thresholds mark the transition between one attitude and another. They are the physical representation of an energetic and spiritual shift. This passage across an intentional space impresses on us just how different inside and outside are.
What makes a threshold valuable is not its physical structure, but how we engage it. This means any place, practice, process, any action at all, can serve as a point of transition. We already have thresholds in our personal routines; little barriers and turning points are everywhere throughout the day. A cup of coffee, brushing your teeth, the first step out of your home, and the drive to work are all emotional thresholds. They just happen to be unintentional.
It is possible and fairly easy to choose thresholds for yourself. We can create them for ourselves anywhere, at any time. In practice, all it takes is a breath. When you’re feeling unfocused or unmotivated in some way, or you want to center yourself in preparation for a posture, simply apply an intention to the breath. Use that breath to create a threshold, an intentional space that you can cross to enter into something different.
Like most breath practices, this might seem almost silly in its simplicity. But try it out. Create a threshold in your mind - anything works; visualize a doorway or simply think about moving into a more relaxed state - and use a breath to cross it. You may be surprised to discover a palpable feeling of transition, that you have in fact moved in some way into a different environment.
This is not a new concept, it’s not special, it’s not unique. We all already do this in a certain form. For me, the power isn’t in its newness or invention, but in creating a practice for it. The idea of a threshold shapes the action, at least for me, in a way that feels relevant and relatable and simple. The more we engage this practice, the more it becomes a habit. It develops our sense of mindfulness and gives us personal, emotional agency throughout the day. Imagine, in a moment of anxiety, if you could find one intentional breath. How powerful might that be?