Out, damned thought! Out!

In yoga you are supposed to clear your mind. Good yogis, they tell me, do not spend the entire class reviewing their to-do list, berating themselves for the errand they forgot to run yesterday, and adding items critical for tomorrow. No indeed, good yoga students, wherever they may be, rid themselves of such thoughts.

Clearing my mind has been a big challenge for me. Maybe my mind suspects that if it agrees to step out for a vacation, I won’t let it back in. Who knows? It could be right. Different yoga teachers have advised to briefly acknowledge the thought and just let it pass by. The problem is I have too many of these thoughts. It’s like the receiving line at a 500 person wedding. I’ve just finished acknowledging one and letting it move on when another rushes up to say hello.

Since I haven’t made much mind-clearing progress during my two months of yoga, I’ve decided to seek new approaches outside of the yoga studio. Thus, I’ll be taking a series of meditation classes starting in October. I’m really excited to try something new! Wish me luck!

Surprise! An Entry Not about Yoga

…Well at least not directly about yoga. This Saturday morning something happened that shocked and upset me. I did yoga for about an hour that afternoon outside on my patio, but it felt like my heart wasn’t in it. My mind was wandering back to the events of the morning. It wasn’t until well into my Saturday evening plans that I found a way to let it all go.

That night, a group of my friends and I attended a concert by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Men’s Chorus. The concert explored the theme of love through songs by different composers and also through poems and stories written by the members of the chorus. Though the music was so beautiful, at the beginning of the concert I could not get myself into it. I was still thinking about the events of the morning, and I felt like my mind was elsewhere. But then I decided to focus on breathing deeply, like you do in yoga, while listening to the music. I just kept slowly filling my whole chest with air, and then equally slowly exhaling. Somehow I let it all of the worries and painful thoughts go. It’s amazing what a few hours of beautiful music and some slow, consistent breathing can do for one’s outlook on life!

So anyway...even if you aren't into yoga, the next time you have something on your mind that you need a break from, just try breathing!

High School Math Class Syndrome

From what I recall of high school, few students longed for seats in the front of the room. In those “hot” seats, your teacher might notice that rather than hanging on his every word, you spent class doodling, passing notes, daydreaming, or finishing up your homework. On the first day of class, my classmates rushed to claim seats in the back of the room, hoping these would be their designated seats rather than some less desirable location assigned at the teacher’s discretion. This was particularly noticeable in some of the less glamorous classes, like physics and math.

Entry into yoga studio at the beginning of class reminds me of this frantic grab for those coveted back row seats. Students rush to lay their mat at the back of the studio or on the sides. I even see people who are so set in their yoga ways that they scramble for relatively the same location during every class. I’ve seen several students rush in practically knocking over the departing students from the previous classes as if their ability to do yoga for the evening was at stake. I’ve dubbed this yoga land grab, “high school math class syndrome.”

Sadly, I noticed that I too have found a routine spot at my most frequented studio. My favorite place is in the back and to the left of the center, but I have no idea why I developed this habit. So this week I decided to buck the high school math class trend. Tuesday, I plopped my mat down on the right side and found the change of yoga scenery to be anti-climatic but good. Next week, I plan to get even more daring and do my yoga in the front of the studio. I really think an important part of yoga is about embracing changes. One day I may even show up a little late (gasp!) just to see what it is like to practice in the last space remaining after all other students have claimed a spot.

Stay tuned for next time…