Have you ever found yourself so caught up in the internal dialogue in your mind that you realize that you have driven to the grocery store, shopped, checked out and driven home and you don’t even remember how it happened? Have you ever had a phone conversation with someone and not really, I mean really listened? Do you find you’re worrying about how and when and where you need to be and what you should be doing in the future?
Welcome to my internal world :) My mind can take on a life of its own, thinking a million miles a minute about all sorts of ideas, goals, plans, “to-do’s” and where I am headed in life. When my mind runs wild, I often feel signs of tension, stress and anxiety about all the things that I should do or could be doing. And sometimes, I start to take action on these things filling my schedule with stuff… For the most part this behavior has driven me to be, what our society considers, a very pretty productive person. However, what I have realized is that while I am planning for the future, the opportunity to enjoy the little moments in life is passing me by… Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of fun and lots fulfilling moments in life, and I laugh a ton... but I believe I would have even more meaning in my life if I could just slow down a bit.
This week at the studio both Tracy and Mitchel, in different ways, spoke about the notion of slowing down in order to make each moment more sacred. I find such relief in this notion. Fortunately, I can slow down while I am on my mat at the studio. I can breath, like really breath. I can feel how precious each moment is with out the urge to look to the future.
Now how can I take this off my mat? How do I slow down when I leave the studio? How do I bring more meaning to each moment in the real world? My promise to myself is to give it a try. For me, for now, the first step is just bringing a sense of awareness to this tendency so that when I find myself getting “busy” or going too “fast”, I notice it. Once I notice it, I will try not to judge myself for it. Instead, I will take a break and breath for a few moments. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
Any thoughts, ideas or comments are welcome and appreciated!
Hugs-Kt
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Ok, Katie. I suppose all we can do is try. (lame, right.) But it would seem that it would be a relatively simple notion, to listen to your breath, to stay present, to really listen, to take moments in when they are happening - not always getting lost in a mental pool of reflection and pre-occupation. Looking back, and looking ahead. But it is hard. It is an accomplishment. It takes wanting to, and even more than that, the practice of doing it. I think that is what the yoga mat is for -- stoking that desire to get present, to be present because we get a whiff, a flavor of it when we are on the mat hanging out in our bodies... it helps us cultivate the knowing that this is so good. This is what it feels like to notice life happening as it's happening. So it helps us recognize it possibly when we are doing it or not doing it off our mat. I had an extraordinary teacher once say something like, "we are busy , busy people. So we cannot expect to take in every minute, every moment. But if we can take in even one, then that's a great start."
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