Living in the Moment

I finally made it to the Total Body Yoga class at the gym this past Wednesday -- the one I have been speaking of for some time now, and the one that our family doctor attends. I probably would have delayed it even longer if it had not been for Kate deciding that morning to give it a try herself and encouraging me to join her. Elsa has been doing so much better in childcare that I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

The class was slightly over an hour long, and pretty intense. I am still sore as I type this, two days later. The instructor was fabulous, and even though the only yoga I have practiced is that with Rodney Yee on a DVD I own (and some yoga-infused Pilates classes taught by a good friend of mine), I felt completely at ease (albeit a bit unbalanced at times) throughout the entire session.

The instructor was so good, in fact, that she even ended up challenging my mind in ways I was not expecting during the relaxation segment at the end of the class. As I laid there on my back, arms and legs relaxed, palms facing upward, she told us to not think about tomorrow or yesterday or two months ago or two years ago, but to concentrate on that moment, on those breaths. Have you ever tried this? I have before in Pilates class or at home with the yoga DVD, but for some reason in this particular class, it really struck me how challenging this actually is. I found it very difficult not to think about all the things I needed to do that afternoon, consider how many calories I might have burned during the class, or even how I was going to write this post as I continued to try to clear my mind.

I am still rereading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, but am finally nearing the end. I have traveled with her to Italy, on into India, and we are now in Indonesia, where she finishes her travels. While in India, she lived at an ashram and powerfully described how difficult it was for her to submit to meditation, to truly quiet her mind. Perhaps it is because I recently read this that it became so much more clear to me in this class on Wednesday, but it has made me realize that I should make a more conscious effort to destress and declutter and concentrate on the things that really matter much more often than I really do.

I cannot be certain, but I am pretty sure that Elsa takes things as they come to her. It is fun to watch her get so excited over the little things and enjoy life as it comes at her. I guess it is the young mind that can be more free from worry. Now that I am an adult (or as much of one as I can muster), responsibility and worry seems to be a part of everyday life. It is time I take a lesson from my daughter (and my yoga instructor) and truly attempt living (at least a little more) in the moment.