How learning to plank taught me compassionate living | Khadija Muhaisen | TEDxArarStreetWomen
The speaker argues that challenging physical feats, exemplified by holding a plank pose, are metaphors for cultivating inner balance and self-reliance, ultimately leading to a state of 'well-being' that benefits the entire interconnected world. This ability to maintain composure and energy, drawing from foundational disciplines like faith and routine, is best realized in the private moments of sustained effort. The core message, echoing Rudyard Kipling, is that individual mastery in the present moment provides the necessary support for both the self and the global community.
## Theses & Positions
- *Plank pose* is a revealing and challenging pose, not glamorous, which explains its lack of visibility on platforms like Instagram.
- Being an athlete is defined as a *frame of mind* that places one in a space of self-challenge, requiring continuous pushing of limits.
- The dynamism of constantly pushing boundaries is what makes humans uniquely human.
- The sustained effort in the *mid-race* is where true power resides, unlike the glamour of the beginning or the end.
- *Well-being* requires a balance—physically, mentally, and spiritually—and this balance is crucial for energy flow.
- Compassionate living is the choice that recognizes humanity is held up by "strings attached to the earth and all her or all her inhabitants."
- The ultimate power lies in the present moment, as every choice made shapes the future and can heal the past.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Plank Pose:** A simple, basic pose requiring the body to be held in a straight line, distributing weight evenly between the hands and the balls of the feet; described as a challenging and enlightening practice.
- **Athlete (as a frame of mind):** A mental state that keeps one in a space of self-challenge through continuous pushing of limits.
- **Well-being:** A state of balance encompassing the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of the body.
- **Mid-race:** The crucial point of sustained effort where true power is found, distinct from the beginning or end points.
- **Alignment:** A state achieved when consciousness awakens to the realization that individual choice creates the space for energy to flow.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Physical Effort/Training:** Requires discipline, faith, and grit, and is necessary to "clear any obstructions" for energy flow.
- **Energy Flow:** When energy flows through the body, it supports the body's default function and, by extension, the rest of the world.
- **The Process of Mastery:** The path to skill takes decades, involves work and mistakes, but discipline facilitates eventual upward mobility ("get up").
- **Cultivating Space:** The goal is to cultivate the necessary ingredients in order to "create space in my body" so energy can flow.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Day 2097 of plank training:** The speaker experienced a shift, achieving a profound moment of peace, effortlessness, and alignment while training.
- **When I can hold my head:** This moment allows the individual to help neighbors "hold up hers."
## Named Entities
- **Rudyard Kipling:** English poet whose poem is cited.
- **Kipling's poem ("If"):** Contains the line: *"if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you."*
- **Daddy's girl:** The speaker's perceived self in a moment of unconditional love.
- **Amman, Jordan:** Location where the speaker's family lived.
## Numbers & Data
- **46 years ago:** The speaker estimates the last time anyone could claim to have grown up in a household featuring a stay-at-home father and a hard-working mother.
- **11 years old:** The age when the speaker asked her father to teach her to pray.
- **Five times a day:** Frequency of prayer practiced by the speaker.
- **Day 2097:** The specific day in the plank training when a profound shift occurred.
## Examples & Cases
- **The Anecdotal Experience (Plank):** The moment during plank training near the edge, where the speaker felt a sense of peace, effortlessness, and alignment, noticing her heels anchored in the past and her head flirting with the future.
- **The Family History:** Growing up in a small two-bedroom apartment in Amman, Jordan, with a stay-at-home father and a working mother.
- **The Father's Role:** The father making breakfast, packing lunchboxes, waiting for her, and peeling oranges for dessert.
- **The Praying Initiation:** The 11-year-old feeling the need to learn to pray, leading to a spiritual bootcamp structure.
- **The Analogy of the World:** The comparison of being held up by "strings attached to the earth and all her or all her inhabitants."
## Tools, Tech & Products
- None mentioned.
## References Cited
- **English Literature Class:** The source material for the Kipling poem and the concept of the "strings attached" quote.
- **Rudyard Kipling:** Author of the poem "If."
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Superfoods and Supplements:** Dismissed as insufficient sources of power compared to discipline, faith, and unconditional love.
- **Numbing Techniques:** Questionable choices or resort to pharmaceuticals used to mask the need for balance.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker acknowledges that the narrative can sound "random."
- The concept of *mid-race* power is difficult to visualize because "there's no one watching you're on your own there's no where cheering or clapping."
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The process of becoming well-rounded and functional is an ongoing, disciplined commitment best practiced privately.
- The audience is urged to view life through new lenses to recognize inherent opportunities for growth and healing in adversity.
- **Final direct call:** To keep one's head when things are difficult to help the earth and all its inhabitants.
## Implications & Consequences
- The state of *well-being* is shown to be mutually dependent: "when I stay up everyone stays up."
- Individual moments of discipline translate into collective support for the entire global ecosystem.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you."* (Kipling's poem)
- *"this is a very complex pose this is a challenging and very revealing pose it also happens to be very enlightening."*
- *"I consider myself a casual athlete I believe an athlete is a frame of mind that puts one in a space of self challenged"*
- *"there was a lot of profanity a hundred percent I experienced for a moment or two the sense of peace space and effortlessness"*
- *"my heels were anchored in the past the crown of my head flirting with the future"*
- *"my launching pad was extraordinary in every way"*
- *"The smell of oranges still reminds me of him"*
- *"I have prayed every day since five times a day even when life seemed to be constantly testing my faith and discipline"*
- *"it's mid-race where the magic is"*
- *"if energy flows through my body it flows through the rest of the world"*
- *"when one tugs at a single thing in nature he finds it attached to the rest of the world"*
- *"when you keep your head you help the earth and all her inhabitants"*