Can you live in the moment... Learn from
yesterday, live today and let tomorrow happen tomorrow?
I am a worrier, I have always been a
worrier! My mum is a worrier as is her mum, my nana- so it is in my genes. It
is natural for me to stress about the little things, hang onto things in the
past and overthink things in the future. This is how I always justified it to
myself, but then I look at my brother- same genes, we definitely look related
but personality wise there are some striking differences in how we approach
things. This is not a biology lesson so I won’t get into who got the better
pick of the genes but it is enough to say that my little brother has definitely
taught me a thing or two on living in the moment. So he is 5 years younger and even though our
circumstances are different I have always been fascinated by his ability to
deal with the here and now, learn from
past experiences but let them go, taking the lessons from them and also keep
open minded about the future, not over questioning what is coming up, not
needing to have everything set in stone. This is more me!
During my yoga classes this week I
encouraged my students to be in the moment, not to hold onto a posture they
felt they didn’t go far enough in, or wonder what was coming next in the
sequence but to totally focus on each posture as they did it. Also reminding
them that their version of the posture was right for them, I asked them not to
be influenced or distracted by what others were doing in the room. The goal was
to assist them in realizing that every one of us is the best version of
ourselves. The result was very mixed, some people took notice and let the
frustrated faces and noises go, focused on their own practice and pose…others
ignored every word and continued to struggle to go deeper into every posture,
watching and copying their neighbours, taking a pose and then almost looking up
searching for the next one as if the idea was to get into and out of as many
poses as possible in the quickest time. No matter what I said or suggested it
was as if they were focused on not hearing the words.
I don’t for one minute think I am on my
own, most peoples pace of life causes too much stress and worry over things we
can’t control. Whether it is things that are in the past or what may happen in
the future. Rather than beat myself up for not connecting with those yogis who
didn’t want to try and live in the moment I let it go and resigned myself to
the fact that maybe on that day that was the practice they needed for them.
After some lengthy heart to hearts with my
brother I decided to take a leaf out of his book and try to live more in the
moment. This is a lot easier said than done, especially for someone like me, however
it is also quite a nice sense of freedom. As I am in my late 20’s I have many
years of habit to change but I do stop myself now when I find my little worry
hat popping out and ask myself a simple question- can I control it? If I can’t,
rather than going over and over it in my head wasting time I accept it and try
to take a learning from it. It is certainly harder to stick to this off the
mat, on the mat I have found a new appreciation for my yoga practice and the daily
surprises it throws at me. Sometimes it’s the ease in which I move into
postures and other times its what I find challenging in my practice but to be
honest it keeps it interesting, I am always learning both in my own practice,
classes I attend and every time I teach.
Maybe the next time you are doing your yoga
practice, at home on your own or in a class, try to be in the moment, to
connect with each posture and make it yours. Off the mat maybe try to live in
the day and not worry so much about what you can’t control, learn from it and
then live it.
xxx
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EllaBelleYoga
Twitter: @ellabelleyoga
Website: ellabelleyoga.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment