It seems that the default setting for modern life is ‘busy’. Most people are busy…working, running around after kids, getting to appointments, ticking off their to-do list, trying to achieve, get ahead (of what or who?) and succeed, rushing even to the very things that are supposed to be relaxing! We are often over-scheduled and unfulfilled.
I hear yoga students lament that they haven’t made it to yoga because they have been too busy. Many of us are rushing around from one thing to the next, and complaining that there are just not enough hours in the day, and crashing in a burnt out heap at the end of the week.
So many people are stressed out and answer “Getting there” to the question “How are you?” Getting where? To the next day, to do the same lot of rushing around all over again?!?
What for? Why? What is the purpose to this busyness? Are we just trying to keep up with the proverbial Joneses?
Sometimes we just need to slow down and take stock. What is really important to you? Can you let go of the things that don’t align with that? Can you delete or delegate tasks, or redesign your schedule…your life?
Or perhaps…to balance out all this overstimulation you just need some time to chill out.
To me, yoga is a practice of being present. It’s my time to really come home to my body, tune inwardly and to simply ‘be’. My physical yoga practice (asana) draws me into stillness by bringing my concentration to my breath and body. My personal physical practice is slow and steady, sometimes strong, sometimes relaxed. It’s my time to feel into my body and discover what I need in the present moment. I bring my mind back time and time again to the physical sensations and my breathing, and I go with my flow for that moment. I’m not trying to achieve great looking poses…I’m more concerned with how it feels right now…getting into and out of poses is as important as finding myself within each posture…finding the stillness within. This time of stillness is the balance to the busyness and is my insurance against overwhelm and burnout.
I believe that the physical practice of yoga is about moving mindfully and quietening the mind.
In a class setting, I invite my students to vary each and every pose to suit them. We are all different so each pose looks different on each of us. Practicing in a way that serves us in the moment requires our attention. If we’ve rushed to class and then are robotically copying the moves…we might get some benefit…but there is much more to be gained by being fully engaged in the process.
I invite you to lose your sense of anticipation in your yoga classes. Instead of pre-empting what’s next and racing to it…let your self be ‘in the pose’ and enjoy the ‘getting there’.
If you find yourself attracted to power styles of yoga where you end up pushing yourself and engaging in competitiveness…check in to see if this is really serving you. If you are using yoga as just another avenue to distract your self from the simplicity of tuning in to find some stillness…then is it really serving you, or has your yoga practice fallen prey to the busyness mode of life?
Whether your yoga practice is dynamic or more relaxed…bring all of you to it. Leave your lists, and worries and concerns off the mat (you can always come back to them later). Come back to your breath again and again. Give yourself the gift of presence, of mindfulness, of finding the stillness within though the movement of your physical body and concentration on your breath.
This is an antidote to feeling overwhelmed by a hectic life. It’s a dose of calm in the storm of to-do’s. It’s a re-set. It’s time out. It’s unplugging. It’s an opportunity to bring balance and to maintain balance when the pace of life is getting too fast or the load is too much for us.
Yoga is much more than exercise…it’s a practice of mindful movement and honing in on what really matters to us. It is time that we can each take to relish the moment, appreciate our self and simply be.
