I came across this poem via Poet’s Day and immediately connected to the sentiment. Much of my teaching is about stopping, noticing and observing, and W.H. Davies illustrates this beautifully in his poem “Leisure”.

W.H. Davies

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad day light,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

The poet’s message is concisely presented in the first couplet, which could standalone as a quote for living. But I’m glad the poem doesn’t stop there! The examples Davies bring to life romanticise the small moments that we often overlook.

Our lives can become an endless stream of doing and it feels like we simply do not have time to stop. Yet, the more we do, it seems the more things need to be done. Yoga helps to free us of this loop by allowing the mind and body to unite in the present moment. By observing and acknowledging our physical body, thoughts and feelings, we create a break in the incessant internal chatter that dominates much of our time.

What Davies describes in the poem isn’t extraordinary, rather, it’s the ordinariness of these experiences which makes them so easy to ignore. When we take yoga off the mat, we’re more aware of our surroundings and emotional reactions. Suddenly, we’re not just walking blindly and in conversation with ourselves. Instead, as the light catches our eye, we pause to enjoy the “streams full of stars, like skies at night”.