This book was one of the recommended books at the Invitational by Judith H. Lasater, PhD/Yoga Teacher/PT and this quote from the last page resonates with me this week. Don’t get me wrong, we need to exercise, move, dance all those but somewhere during the day and night … take a moment (75-90 minutes yoga class would be ideal:).
“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.
And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.
You can go on vacation to Paris or Hawaii or New Orleans three months from now ( I wish !), and you’ll have a tremendous time, I’m sure.
But if you wan to come back feeling new – alive and full of fresh hope and in love with the world – I think the place to visit may be NOWHERE.”
– Pico Iyer
I wish I wrote the above because it’s my sentiment exactly & Pico Iyer says it so well. Sitting still is not meant literal of course (while Zen at a monastery is certainly a training) but he means that we can all weave in a moment of reflection, repose, a conscious time-out – that moment of PAUSE even during the movements. Our self-worth is not measured by how busy we are. Rather, by paying attention, our mind clears up and our body is more in tune with our inner wisdom – all of which yoga teaches us so well.
And this is the sentiment because I am breathless running around in flurry of self imposed activities trying to pack to get off to Asia this week. Yes, I am going Somewhere … bearing gifts, with baggage and all. Things to do list piling up and anxieties over not getting them done mounting every minute. Still I am proud of myself that I retained my yoga practice and even slipped into Knee Workshop and … most memorable yoga class on a Memorial holiday (Yoga Therapeutics by Harry’s LAST CLASS – tears and laughter as he bids goodbye to start his new chapter …) so now going into a tailspin as the week restarts but somehow amidst the juggling, there’s that PAUSE where the debris settle to the bottom of the swirling well and only the distilled essence can be bottled. How to pause?
Stop. What’s the worst that can happen? What is most essential to this life I live? There are those who depend on you, yes, but … what do they treasure in you?
***
Deep Breath.
Invite the stillness; the tranquility to approach all those things on the list with
serenity and grace. Is that even possible.
To make the impossible possible is my intention this full moon week
by living my yoga – We can even “stretch” time … Namaste.
