Living in the moment…. Why is it so
difficult to just be here, in the present? Not wishing for tomorrow or dreaming
of yesterday but living today…. Something happened this week which opened my
eyes and gave me some answers…
Inspiration can come from the strangest and
most unexpected places… I had an early flight back to London on Sunday morning
after a wedding at home in Dublin, I rolled out of bed at 5am with that
horrible feeling of being so tired I felt sick. I was hoping for a quiet taxi
man so I could just catch 40winks but taxi’s in Ireland are rarely quiet
journeys-it’s always a lovely welcome when I touch down in Dublin and hop into
a taxi and instantly he is chatting about the weather, the economy or whatever
else is on his mind! Normally I love it but as my hearty taxi man embarked on
his topics of choice… I just sat back, listened and added the odd response when
he took a breath. He could probably see I was falling asleep so he started
asking me about why I was home I kept it short and sweet, still hoping for a
few minutes of silence… again he took over and started to describe his version weddings-
he said it’s funny how the men love the party but fear the inevitable
girlfriend fluttering her eyelashes talking about how romantic everything is
while they feel the pressure rise to get down on one knee, women on the other
hand get wrapped up in the fairy tale and a different kind of fear sets in, it
is like an amplifier for a ticking clock. Women want to press that pause button
and ideally rewind a few years…. My ears started to prick up a little.
As a girl approaching the end of my 20’s I
am coming to the stage where friends are getting married which causes other
friends to get nervous and that fear of being left on the shelf sets in… many
of my girlfriends hate admitting their age and would love to turn the clock
back a little…. Rather than enjoying
where they are now, whether single or in a relationship. There seems to be a
constant want or need for something else- marriage, kids etc. Is there ever a
fulfilled feeling?
It got me thinking about how things change.
Children constantly wish their life away…. Wanting to grow up. I work with kids
now and I see what a massive influence the words we use with kids has…. How often
does a parent tell a child they can do something when they are older? Or tell
the child they can’t do something because they are too young? Our carefree days
of being a child are so short in our lifetime but yet every day I see how kids
wish these precious days away, looking for the next thing to happen. Now I know
they aren’t actually wishing their life away as they don’t think that deeply or
understand how good they have it but by constantly making reference to what
they can’t do because they are too young we are building up the getting older
part instead of encouraging them to live in the moment!
I remember being in my teens at school and
studying for exams, the sun always seemed to be shining when it came to study
time. I could hear the younger kids playing outside for hours and I often
thought how I would love to be able to go back to being a child and appreciate
those years more, the not having to worry years. The point is we spend so much
time wishing to be somewhere else or at a different stage in our lives. Even as
adults, rather than enjoying where we are and appreciating all we have got we
are racing to a finish line and what for? A good friend of mine made a comment to
me this week- wishing it was 2 years time when he would be qualified in his studies;
I stopped him and challenged him. Why would you want to waste 2 years of your
life? Miss out on all those great times with your kids, 2 years of memories
with friends and family! I told him while it is important to focus on the
bigger picture and have a goal…. He needed to remember to enjoy the journey.
The journey is a key part to the destination.
In yoga we are encouraged to be in the
moment, to step onto the mat and let go of any rushing we had to do to get to
class that day, any to do lists bouncing around in our heads for later…. To
ignore what anyone else is doing on their mat and just be present and connect
with our breath and our body. Our struggle on the mat is just a microscope into
what we do every day in our lives. Of course it is difficult to be present and
in the moment when we spend the rest of our lives racing to fill a bucket of
water with a hole in the bottom, more water won’t help we need to patch up the
hole.
When I started teaching yoga full time
earlier this year I decided to jump off the treadmill and stop racing through
life. To enjoy where I am now and live in the moment. It was not an overnight
transformation and I sometimes still struggle with myself to stay off the
treadmill, it’s like a bad habit I don’t
even realize I’m doing it. But for me yoga has helped me stop rushing, wishing
for the next thing and to start living today.
Ever heard the phrase ‘Life is
too short’ maybe start believing it...
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