The Absolute Necessity of Voids

We live in an era of abundance. Except for some unfortunate people, for the most of us, the world is full.

A very important concept in Chinese medicine is “void and solid (虚实）”. In Yoga, the similar concept is deficiency and excess. A bowl serves its purpose by being hollow inside. A filled-up bowl can no longer be a vessel. However, a bowl that is never filled with anything also loses its function of a bowl. It might be a piece of art. But not a bowl.

Our stomach is a perfect bowl of such. We fill it; it empties up by processing what went into it; then we can fill it again. A critical cycle that supports life. The system breaks down if we stop filling the bowl, or overfill the bowl before it empties. When the bowl loses its void inside, it ceases functioning.

Our brain is not much different. There is a general “30% headroom rule” for the computers. Ideally, CPU, RAM, and storage all need to run below 70% of their full capacity in order to deliver the best performance. We, a carbon-based being, likely will also be benefited with some redundancy.

I am old enough to remember the days that one had to keep some wondering in the head, because getting answers was not so easy. If the urge was intense enough, one would have to go look for books, find knowledgeable people, or do some serious reasoning and/or calculations oneself. But more often, one just stays in the unknown, keeps the question unanswered, and moves on.

For me, this feels like having more redundancy in my capacity. The void that I have allows space for thoughts, for pondering, for ideas to form and grow, for emotions to froth up. Or, when the void simply stays as a void, it allows me to feel light, relaxed, porous and curious.

This week, in one of our Yoga practices, I looked over to my husband, who has been working very intensively on a project, and realised that he was solid. There was very little void in his entire being. Afterwards, he told me that, for the first time in a long time, he did not enjoy the practice. Poses felt wrong. Breath won’t go to the right places. It felt like a wasted practice.

This episode led to a long conversation which inspired this blog. When a person is solid, there is no room to absorb. It was not a wasted practice after all when it led to this valuable reflection. It also showed us how we, through years of practice, have built up the awareness of ourselves, the ability to feel the issues, the curiosity to find out the reasons, and the ability to seek the solution.

This is why we practice Yoga.