During an Empowered yoga practice we implement a three-tier approach to synchronizing the mind and body—steadying the eyes in one spot, attention to respiration, and the awareness of the body. As you move from posture to posture the focus is on what is happening right now. You narrow your vision, deepen your breath and then drop into your body. A sense of calmness comes over you and you are now in the present moment—the zone. You are not there too long before you lose your attention and your focus shifts over to a thought. A thought leads into another thought and in essence you have left the room. Your body is there yet your mind is off somewhere else—daydreaming or strategizing your next move in life.
At some point you realize you are daydreaming and not present. You then label your experience by saying to yourself, “thinking” and then return back to an inhale. Once again you are back in the zone. Inevitably you will lose your focus and become preoccupied by thinking. You will catch yourself once again and label it thinking and return to the breath. This process of catching yourself lost in thought, labeling it and then returning back to the breath is the foundation for developing a yoga practice.
In the Pāli language this technique is called Samatha meditation often translated as calm abiding. Due to the speed at which our world is moving many of us are living in a perpetual state of anxiety and agitation. We are not sleeping enough, not using our bodies enough, thinking a lot, eating processed foods that create stress on our digestive systems, thus affecting the other eleven systems within the mind and body. The strange thing is that most of us are unaware of this. It is not until we sit still with no stimulus or entertainment that we can begin to feel what is driving our lives.
As we learn to make a commitment to a practice of calm abiding we can begin to have a shift in our lives perspective. Cultivating calmness creates clarity, and clarity leads to wisdom. Wisdom is becoming our experience of what we learn within the space that is created when we become calm and present. At first this might not mean sitting still in meditation. You can start off with driving without the radio on. You can walk or run without the iPod. The options are endless for creating calmness within your life.
Search for ways that you can create calmness throughout your day and notice how good you feel when you are calm. It is from this place that you can clearly start to navigate your life in the direction that promotes peace and happiness.
At some point you realize you are daydreaming and not present. You then label your experience by saying to yourself, “thinking” and then return back to an inhale. Once again you are back in the zone. Inevitably you will lose your focus and become preoccupied by thinking. You will catch yourself once again and label it thinking and return to the breath. This process of catching yourself lost in thought, labeling it and then returning back to the breath is the foundation for developing a yoga practice.
In the Pāli language this technique is called Samatha meditation often translated as calm abiding. Due to the speed at which our world is moving many of us are living in a perpetual state of anxiety and agitation. We are not sleeping enough, not using our bodies enough, thinking a lot, eating processed foods that create stress on our digestive systems, thus affecting the other eleven systems within the mind and body. The strange thing is that most of us are unaware of this. It is not until we sit still with no stimulus or entertainment that we can begin to feel what is driving our lives.
As we learn to make a commitment to a practice of calm abiding we can begin to have a shift in our lives perspective. Cultivating calmness creates clarity, and clarity leads to wisdom. Wisdom is becoming our experience of what we learn within the space that is created when we become calm and present. At first this might not mean sitting still in meditation. You can start off with driving without the radio on. You can walk or run without the iPod. The options are endless for creating calmness within your life.
Search for ways that you can create calmness throughout your day and notice how good you feel when you are calm. It is from this place that you can clearly start to navigate your life in the direction that promotes peace and happiness.
1 comment:
Hi Johnny,
Just back from Philly 1/2 marathon. Had a fabulous run even though it was in the teens at the start! I felt so strong in my head. My legs just followed.
Just read this article from runner's world and thought of you.
Check it out: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-409--12406-0,00.html
Muri
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