And now?
Yoga teachers say some odd things during class. I completely include myself in this. I've named various body parts different marine life forms: I often refer to the pelvic floor as a giant jelly fish. I've moved internal organs around the body, asking you to 'breath with your toes' or twist and 'pop the heart out and float it to the ceiling'. I have certainly said things like 'be in the moment', 'be present', 'be in the here and now'. But what do these phrases really mean?
I would estimate that I spend 60% of my time 'living' in my head, 20% zombying out (TV, social media etc) 17% asleep and 3% in the present. What about you?
Even when I take time out to clear my mind, let's say walking the dogs, I'm still texting, emailing, listening to a podcast and thinking about 'stuff'. That 'oh so important stuff' that fills my head constantly. "Do I have the right ingredients for dinner?" and so I miss the deer leaping across my path. "Should I have a video on my home page?" and so I miss the eagle soaring majestically in the sky. "Are there special bathmats for tubs with plugs in the middle of the bath? and so I miss the large oak tree in front of me and head butt it with full force.
Of course we need to think about things and mull them over, this is how we solve problems, get ideas etc etc. But are we aware how much time we spend living in our heads and not in the real world? We are so good at thinking up things, we create epic dramas that would put half the shows on Netflix to shame.
What would we learn if we became present? If we stopped multi-tasking and just did one thing at a time? Would we become better listeners and therefore have better relationships? Would we become more productive if we focused on the task at hand and not expend energy doing everything all at once?
This is one of the lessons that can be gleaned from practicing yoga. In yoga we, move & breath, move & breath and move & breath x 100. If we keep the focus on what we are doing in each posture, we can go beyond the body, beyond the breath and find the still silence in the present.
Just out of curiosity, how many other things did you do and did you think about as you were reading this?
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