Yoga in the City 2014

Just Breathe

"When you are sitting in traffic going 10 km an hour and you want to go 50 km an hour, you are sitting with 40 km of stress."


Marlene shared this observation from one of her previous teachers during Yoga in the City this past week. So true. More than one morning that week I had found myself stuck in traffic, stressing out because I was running late for my yoga class. And it came in handy again the very next day, when I had slept in, and was trying to make it to the studio before the invocation started.

The whole week I was doing the yoga intensive in the mornings from 8 a.m. to 11:30, and then working 6-7 hours in the afternoons. A few of the evenings were busy, too. During the last two mornings of pranayama, I couldn't stop myself from yawning. "What does it mean," I asked, thinking it might be an autonomic response to how I was going about receiving my breath. "It probably means you're tired," was the obvious response.

During the asana practise I was finding how to extend my reach by letting go in areas where I was previously tensing unnecessarily.

Then heading off to work in the afternoons. Although this meant I didn't have much time to reflect after classes, I was able to observe my reactions (and over reactions) to some mundane events. Like getting stuck in traffic, standing in crowded subways, missing buses. And to practise a bit of indifference toward bigger things that might normally push my buttons, like whether my secondment will be renewed at work. Letting go in areas where I was previously tensing unnecessarily.

The mind works in mysterious ways.

A new insight during the week also, about working with an injury, when one side of the body is well and the other is not... a useful technique is to imagine the well side suffering the same effects, and then envision it healing itself quickly. Now, transfer that experience to the other side.

from recent travels in Wilson New York