Do you do yoga? It’s a wonderful practice that can help you both physically and emotionally. Though I’ve co-written A Woman’s Book of Yoga about Kundalini yoga, I’m now learning a new form of yoga called mindful hatha yoga. {Click here to hear me narrate this post over a soundtrack of my original music}.
The word yoga comes from Sanskrit and implies harnessing together and unifying the body and mind. It combines gentle physical movements with awareness of breathing.
The goal is to increase flexibility, strength and balance while entering a state of deep relaxation and awareness. It’s a wonderful way to diminish the impact of racing thoughts or brain fog.
Recently I was visiting family members and stayed overnight with my nephew. He was sleeping later than me. It was a perfect time to practice my yoga. So I laid out a towel on the carpet, turned on a guided recording, closed my eyes and began going through some of the movements.
As I lay on the floor, focused on the serene words and slow motions, the recording advised me to ignore all external input, to become aware of my body, and my surroundings, and to continue mindfully breathing.
I released my tensions into the floor and lay still on my back with my knees bent.
Suddenly I became aware of an intrusion into my serenity. I felt something moving forcefully on my bent left knee. Without opening my eyes, it soon became apparent that the motion was my nephew’s bulldog, humping my leg.
This intrusion, however, was not a danger, so I ignored the dog and continued my slow, steady breathing. The dog responded to my disinterest by walking away.
In that moment, I realized that if I do not respond to the actions around me, or actions on me, and just focused on my breathing, I could avoid getting caught up and distracted. I didn’t push away the dog or the thoughts; I allowed them both to pass by. Observed but not responded to. Experienced but not distracted.
