We've Been Robbed! The Culprit: Our Minds.

Today is Sunday. Today is another beautiful day to just be on this earth and live. Today is a happy day. Today is not the past nor the future. Today is NOW. 

So often we go through life setting goals for ourselves. Goals for tomorrow, goals to try and fix the past, goals for 5, 10, 15 years into the future. And goals are not bad; they help us focus on what we want to accomplish and keep us on track. But in a way, in a very important way, goals rob us of living in the present moment.

I didn't come to this realization until I started practicing yoga a few years back. For all my yogi's out there, you know that the last pose in practice is Savassana. Savassana is where the class lies down on their backs on their mats, eyes closed, practicing stillness of mind and body. The purpose of this is to let your mind a soul register what your body just went through in practice. And the theory of yoga is that your mind and soul can't do this if you are constantly filling it up with new noisy thoughts.

Sounds simple right? To just "stop thinking" ? I wish it were that simple. I wish my mind had an "off" button. The first few years that I practiced yoga, whenever I closed my eyes, after no more than 10 seconds of focusing on my breath my mind would wander.  To get a better understanding, let me take you into the mind of Lauren during Savassana:

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale

wow i'm actually concentrating on my breath, go me!

this feels nice.

that practice was really good. I stayed in my wheel pose for so long!

i can't wait to go home and eat dinner. ugh i'm starving

hmm. I should cook for tomorrow night too since I have a busy day.

I'll have to run errands, write a paper, go to work.ugh.

lauren FOCUS. why are you thinking of these things now?? Bad lauren.

inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale

oh no. Totally forgot to text back Kris.

i'll do that right after I check my instagram 

I wonder if i got any more likes on my picture I posted this morning

LAUREN WHY ARE INCAPABLE OF NOT THINKING

inhale, exhanle, inhale.....

"**begin to slowly waken your body, wiggling your toes, your fingers..."

ugh. really? Savassana is over already? But I was just starting to not think!!

So, you get the picture...In theory, staying in the present moment is really much easier than it actually is!

But like anything in life, when you practice something it does get easier. Now in yoga, I find that I'm able to turn off the "chitter chatter" in my mind for a greater portion of Savassana. And most importantly, it has made me much more appreciative of the present moment in everyday life. I know it sounds crazy, but yoga changed me. I, like many of you, have dreams and goals. But I never let them stress me out; I never let them foster negative thoughts in my head; i never let them rob the enjoyment i'm having in the present moment; i never let them control me. Every one of us has the power to choose how we will live our life: live for the now OR live for the past and future. The problem with the second option is that the past is over with and can make you sad, and the future is a relative term with no end point. So when you are constantly thinking about tomorrow, when tomorrow comes you will be thinking about the next day, and so on. 

Taking time out of the day to meditate and to just practice not thinking is just as important as getting a daily workout in. Focus on your breath, focus on an empowering quote, focus on a positive color, or focus on something you are grateful for. It can be 10 minutes, 5 minutes or even just 3 minutes out of 24 hours a day! It doesn't matter how long. It just matters that you are taking this time for YOU. For YOU to quiet your mind that is always thinking!! Give it a rest and just be. In the present. In the now.

I'll leave you with what I usually say to the yoga classes during Savassana that I teach:

 "in these next few minutes know that you have no obligations, nothing to do, no where to be, except here, in the now, breathing and being just as you are"

"With each wave, a greater sense of calmness sets in"
Photographed in Croatia by Kristopher Glavan

Have a beautiful Sunday everyone and as always, feel free to leave any comments below on your experiences with Savassana or Meditation!