Are you a human doing or a human being?
24 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in The Art of Yoga Tags: awareness, consciousness, human being, meditation, yoga
The India yoga vacation I have just finished made something very clear: Most of the time I am a human doing, not a human being. How can I be with all that i have to do in the day: drive to and from work (80km), work 8 hours, workout, look after my kid and cart him around to his activities, cook, clean, buy groceries, take out the garbage, take care of the mail (admin ugh), organize weekend events, respond to personal email, facebook, prepare for tomorrow, be intimate with my husband, sleep!
Sound familiar?!
My life is full. Time is limited. I get tired and fed up. The expectations I put on myself to do everything as best I can are high. Sometimes I get so caught up in everything that I need to DO that I forget how to BE. How to stay aware, conscious, connected to myself without “daily gravity” pulling on me in every direction and feeling like a bag of marbles someone just dumped on the floor.
The yoga vacation has reminded me why I started this blog and showed me how “daily gravity” has pulled me away from the everyday yoga practice that gives me so much more than it ever takes away. I have come back to the source here in India. I have renewed my intention to take care of my inner self on a daily basis. A few examples of how I’d like to do this:
-Wake up 15 minutes earlier and do a few rounds of sun salutation and one breathing exercise.
-Repeat mantras in the car on the way to work.
-Practice belly breathing before eating lunch.
-Eat slowly and mindfully – actually tasting and savoring the food (and not at my desk)!
-Go for a 15 min walk after lunch and appreciate nature.
-Practice antar mouna stage two (thought watching) in the car on the way home.
-Be 100% present with my son rather than doing a million things at the same time.
-Practice 15 minutes of meditation before sleep.
It may seem like this is a list of doing but what you don’t see is how I can BE in the moment while I’m doing them. The combined use of breath, concentration and intention make these activities re-source-full.
Yoga works for me but it could be any activity: drinking a beer, peeling carrots, playing the piano, working out, taking a shower, walking the dog. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are 100% devoted to the moment. You are totally aware of what you are doing and you are doing it consciously. This is what being means to me.
What does being mean to you?
