Chop Wood

Chop Wood

Have you ever heard the Zen exhortation to simply chop wood and carry water? When we engage an activity with full presence, it brings us toward deeper liberation. That said, as a practice, chopping wood is particularly useful if we have excess fight energy. Let it be said loud and clear here that you should not attempt to chop wood without clear instructions in using an axe, and that we specifically disclaim any liability from axe injuries. Yikes! We do not have axe instructors on our faculty yet.

However, chopping wood is a specifically indicated restorative practice when we have a fight response because it allows us to channel physical intensity through the hands and arms, against resistance, and in a way that allows for motor completion of archetypal gestures.

Other activities in this arena would include those where you can swing an object with force, e.g., golf, tennis and other racquet sports, fencing, kendo (a Japanese martial art that uses bamboo swords), etc.

The idea is to engage the motor pathways of the hands and arms, where fight energy accumulates, in a useful (non-destructive) manner. Approached restoratively, we bring attention to the present moment, to sensation, to the satisfaction of successfully defending our space. We chop wood with martial intent, as it were. To go deeper into understanding the importance of the martial arts in building peace, watch Pete Jackson’s Building Peace.