The ability to hold a paradox in mind is one of the first things I learned in Yoga.
When you look at the image below, what do you see?
You may see a duck or you may see a bunny, but you won’t be able to see both to once.
Instead of seeing things as pairs of opposites or only ‘one’ thing, we get comfortable with a spectrum of what is true. What we see through our eyes may be only a bunny, but others see a duck. Both are true.
An open mind means the possibility that there is more than the vision you hold now, a bigger perspective.
Being open minded is not believing everything or accepting everything. It is the acknowledgement that there may be more that is not yet known.
The idea that we ourselves can be more than one thing at a time is something to embrace too.
For example, to be in a loving, healthy relationship requires good boundaries. To be close to someone means we embrace the paradox that we need to set firm boundaries around how we will be treated.
In yoga practice we see this all the time. In many poses you must contract your muscles and stretch them at the same time. You want to be firmly rooted with gravity and yet lengthen yourself with lightness. You must hold back your ribs but broaden through the collarbones at the same time. These are just a few examples in the asana practice but its true in the rest of life too.
Hold on to what you know to be true AND be open to what you don’t know yet.
Practicing going back and forth between duck and bunny – its fun!