Counting Yellow Doors for Healing

“My non-negotiable is counting yellow doors out loud. Whenever I leave my house, I make a point to look for and count every yellow door I see. I adopted this habit as a way to help myself stay more present. It’s like a game — seeing how many doors I can count that day. (Thirty-two is my record to date!) All of my friends know not to be offended I stop midsentence to yell “10!” Most of them will shout out if they notice a yellow door before me.

“One of my friends plays her version of this with her husband; they count dogs. My mental health, like many others, took a significant hit throughout the pandemic and one of the biggest issues I have struggled with is staying present and not letting my thoughts spiral. This habit has been very helpful for helping me find joyful moments every day.” — Kris Aldous-Traynor, Boston

The two paragraphs above are from a New York Times article in this morning’s paper about what people consider “non-negotiables” for their well-being. I loved this one — because it is, of course, so chakra-based.

So what did most of us feel during the isolation required in the pandemic? Powerless. What did Kris choose to count? Y*E*L*L*O*W doors. The third chakra whose Grace is Power. The color for the third chakra is yellow.

She maintains that the practice was meant to help her be “more present,” something we all could use, no? Knowing nothing about this person, other than her penchant for counting yellow doors, I’d have to venture that she has some issues with her third chakra and that this was and is a healing maneuver.

What are your non-negotiables that give you a sense of order, safety, sanity? Think on it. I think you’ll find that you have your own yellow-door equivalent.

What do you do when you’re distracted internally and need to be “more present?” Have you ever considered a simple chakra practice like this one? Pick your most vulnerable chakra and come up with your own version of counting yellow doors.

You’ll stay present, and be doing your deep chakra work for healing, all at the same time. What a great way to multi-task.

P.S. The other thing is: if the situation really is distracting — say personal, emotional pain in the face of an important business meeting — you can be assured that your presence at the meeting will give you some much-needed space around the distraction, and you might just find that when you return to it, it’s not as bad as you’d thought.