In Defense of Constraints

Let’s take this idea of constraints a little further. Naturally, as human beings, we have physical constraints, like the fact that we must eat and breathe in order to survive.

There are, of course, mental constraints that exist as well. One of my favorite quotes is by Bob Marley, “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” In this case, the mental slavery is of our own doing. Again, those conditionings create constraints. 

And all of that led me to think about Maslow's Hierarchy. Here, there's an opportunity for reframing constraint. 

You see, at the most basic level, as Maslow points out, we have these physiological needs. We must breathe, we must eat food, drink water, have sex, and sleep. We must have all these functions. Nothing else matters unless we have these handled. These are constraints. 

But let's look at the implication of those constraints. In this case, constraint has an allowing to it.

It allows us to then have relationships, friendships, family, love, and belonging, which then allows for ourselves to have self-esteem. To have the confidence, respect, and then to continue up the pyramid all the way to self-actualization.

That actualization and that transcendence (which one would certainly associate with freedom because you're fully actualizing yourself as a human being) ultimately was predicated on the constraint of our physiology.

So in this case, constraint has actually allowed for self-actualization and freedom. 

That led me to relabeling constraint as conscious constraint: the idea that we can choose constraint in a certain context.

I call it conscious constraint because we're bringing consciousness and awareness to the constraint. It's not just automated adaptive behavior; we're choosing the constraint consciously.

And through that we find freedom. It is constraint as freedom. Constraint allowing for freedom. Constraint towards freedom. 

Taking this one step further, let’s examine constraint and time.

In our everyday, our thoughts bounce around between thoughts of the past, the future, the past, the future, the past, the future, the future, the past. And every now and then there's a little present in there. 

But by constraining time to the present, we enter into a very different kind of relationship. 

And what ends up happening is this quite beautiful cycling through the present with the past and future. That in each moment, in each forward moving moment, there's a happening.

We observe it. We can contextualize it to the past and future and then come back to the present. And we keep cycling through in this way. And this is how we’re able to reframe our original inquiry into freedom from versus freedom to.

These are not the only two choices. I invite you to consider that there is a freedom available in the now, and it's elusive to us most of the time.

Because if we are already free, there is nothing to move away from or towards. Those ideas are strictly creations of the mind. That there is even something to move away from and towards is a story we are telling ourselves.

Of course there are going to be dangerous or precarious situations in life that you may need to physically move away from. 

But we're talking here about the broader trajectories of life. This idea of conscious constraint is something that I’ve found in so many areas, cultures, and disciplines. Take this quote from Igor Stravinsky, the great Russian composer:

“My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful, the more narrowly I limit my field of action, and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit.”

His philosophy is that he must constrain himself. And by imposing constraints, he is freeing himself. 

Let's go further. The Sanskrit word yoga means “union.” But Sanskrit is a very complex language where words can have multiple definitions. “Yoga” also means, in addition to unity, “to yoke.” The same yoking of, say, a cattle on a farm.

There's a yoking involved in the idea of yoga. And where in our lives are we consciously yoking ourselves to something? It could be a mission, a project, a relationship. Something we dedicate ourselves to. And through that dedication, we find liberation. That is what yoga is teaching us.

Here’s another example. Let's think about a tree. A healthy tree with deep roots. The tree has a very serious constraint: it cannot move.

It is stuck where it is by definition. And it is at the mercy of the wind, the rain, the minerals, the soil where it's located. A tree that was free to move with the wind and roll around would not survive, so it is the tree that has the constraint which thrives. 

Even something as abstract as logic and reason, if we actually look at the nature of reason, it's very easy to think that logic and reason liberate us. They allow us to think very grand thoughts, organize our thoughts, and organize ourselves as a society. 

But just the notion of reason is in and of itself a constraint. Logic and reason is a constraint when we actually look at the nature of reason.

Essentially, what reason does is boxes one into a corner. If you come to believe that 2 plus 2 is 4, you are stuck with that answer. You cannot one day turn around and believe that 2 plus 2 is 5, seven, or three.

This is the constraint of reason. And conversely, there is a liberating aspect to that constraint.