The map is not the territory - you are not your mind

Descriptions or models are not the same as the thing they describe. It’s a bit like saying that reality is not the same as the truth.

Somewhere in the middle of my 200-hour Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training, I discovered Adi Goldstein’s The Unspeakable World. It blends music with a speech by Alan Watts, which is how I came across Alfred Korzybski and his work in General Semantics.

Korzybski argued that human knowledge is constrained by two factors: (1) the structure of our nervous systems, and (2) the structure of our languages. He suggested that we don’t experience the world directly but through "abstractions"—nonverbal perceptions from the nervous system and verbal representations shaped by language. These abstractions can distort reality, leading to misunderstandings when our mental "maps" fail to match the "territory" of actual events.

This idea resonated deeply during my yoga training, where I often struggled to articulate the sensations I felt in my body. It reminded me how language, powerful as it is, can sometimes fall short of capturing the truth of our experiences.

At the same time, the stories we tell ourselves shape our experiences profoundly. Reflecting on Alan Watts quoting Lao-Tzu—“The five colors make a man blind, the five tones make a man deaf”—reminds me of the infinite richness of perception and the need for mental flexibility. As our minds manifest in our bodies, cultivating a liberated yet disciplined mind becomes essential.

I can’t say I’ve figured this out, but I’m diving deeper into these ideas and will continue to share my reflections. Have you ever felt that words couldn’t fully capture what you were experiencing? Let’s explore this journey together.