An Extraordinary Practice

Yesterday I had an extraordinary practice. I took the one hour noon Stationary Series class. Same series of poses practiced one or two times. Very ordinary you might say.

It was anything but. This practice was something else. From the outside, I moved from ordinary pose to ordinary pose. But from the inside, my world was magnificently brilliant and completely alive. The reason for this, I think, is that I was able to stay present for a sustained period of time.

The Buddhists say that when fully present, the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Washing the dishes can become a deeply fulfilling practice. The Buddhist practice of sand art supports this philosophy. Each grain of ordinary sand, placed properly by a monk will collectively become a beautiful picture.

I stepped onto my mat yesterday with a simple intention to pay attention to my breath. That’s it. And I began… interlace fingers under chin, set gaze… take a deep breath in.
As I moved from pose to pose, tension melted from my body and the sound of my breath became magnified in my mind. A deep sense of peace came over me and the amazing thing is that I didn’t recognize this until after the practice. I was so focused on my breath that my mind did not recognize thought. I was practicing above the level of thought. So cool!

This state of being was not new to me. I’ve had glimpses. What was different for me yesterday was that I was able to sustain this state for the entire practice. The predictability of the Stationary Series supported and contained my experience.

Many of our regular Flow students are challenged in the Stationary Series. Mentally challenged, that is. I’ve heard it said that the Stationary Series is “so boooorrrring” or “it is the same poses over and over”. That’s right, it is! I felt the same way once.

However, the simplicity and the predictability of the SS class is the container in which the mind can practice being present. Since there is nothing to anticipate, the mind can relax in the moment. That is the beauty of the ordinary.

If I could bottle my experience yesterday, I’d sell a million by next week. But I cannot. As Krishnamurti said, “true power must be experienced”. I encourage you to practice only the Stationary Series for your next ten classes. At first it may seem ordinary but fasten your seat belts, the extraordinary may be only a breath away!

Peace.

A Little Mental Atrophy

I’ve been out of town with my family for the past 10 days. We spent 4 days at a soccer tournament in Maine and the next 6 days on the Maine coast. The weather was great, the beach was beautiful and I relaxed just as one should while on vacation.

During the week, I ran a few times on the beach and stepped onto my yoga mat twice. I thought it was a pretty good attempt at keeping up with my physical routine. I came home feeling slightly toxic (but well tanned).

Having returned on Saturday, I stepped onto my mat at Verge Sunday morning at 7:15 am. The body felt fine, a bit slower and softer, but not too bad. It was my mind that was a whole different story. In short, I could not pay attention. I was distracted and dulled. The “fierce focus” that I had trained and developed over the past few months was definitely out to lunch.
I was truly surprised at how weak I felt mentally. My mental muscle had atrophied as a limb does when casted for a few weeks. During the practice, my mind continuously drifted to the past, the future and to places I had never even been before!

For the most part, I am very focused during practice. I do as the teacher says. I listen to my breath, focus my gaze and listen to my body. While my mind does drift away, I am usually able to catch my thoughts before they become a story and pull me away completely.

Over the past few months I have been very focused on being focused and in so doing I think that I have actually become mentally stronger and more stable. So what astounded me during my practice on Sunday was how quickly that mental muscle had softened due to lack of practice. It further convinced me of my view that we can train our mind to be focused just as we train our muscles to lift more weight.

I don’t regret taking the time to relax. In fact, I believe that it is just as important to rest and rejuvenate as it is to train and gain strength. So now my weak mental muscle and I will get back to work on the yoga mat and the meditation cushion so that we can build up the strength to focus, pay attention to stay present for a sixty minute Stationary class.

Peace.