“Now” - Is it that hard to find?
In my yoga practice, I love being caught up in the moment. That’s the point, right? Aren’t we supposed to breathe into each “now” and focus on the current moment? After all, now is all there really is. Let’s ponder at this concept for a moment - the present moment, of course.
You sit on your mat at the beginning of practice. You breathe, you focus and you quiet the mind. This is all done in real time and at the present time. While you’re being present, your mind wanders and takes you with it. You have allowed your mind to take your attention elsewhere. Your mind houses the “me/I” ego and wants nothing more than for you to pay attention to “me”. “I want a drink of water, I’m tired of sitting, I want to go shopping, I need to finish my paperwork.” The more you get caught up in these distractions the less you are present in your practice. The next thing you know, you’re halfway through the asanas and can only assume you were breathing the whole time.
Does this sound at all familiar? Have you ever been driving someplace and suddenly realized you’re three miles down the road and don’t remember seeing the past three miles? Do you sometimes re-read a page of a book 2-3 times before you accept that you still don’t know what you just read? Have you been talking with someone and couldn’t remember what you did the night before? (Maybe you weren’t there?)
Each of us has the ability to be “in the now”. Yoga practice leads us down the right path every time but we soon forget as we leave our mat go about our busy lives. Yoga gives us a taste of what awareness is by asking us to breathe, to stay focused, to be in the moment. We practice this on our mat. How can we take this gift into the rest of our life? Easy; just keep practicing. Stay in the now a little longer each time. Acknowledge when you’ve left and come back. Pay attention to the flowers growing, the girl at the cash register, the cars around you in traffic. I know it sounds pretty mundane and boring. It also seems impossible. However, you will be surprised and how this simple act of staying present can manifest new brain waives and patterns in your life. It is a profound awakening and it can last the rest of your days, making each one more precious because you were a part of it.