Om

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
― Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation

Many years ago I fell in love with yoga and have been an avid yogini ever since. Yoga is a remarkable form of exercise, and I would argue that it is the perfect workout.  Not only does it keep the body in shape, it also disciplines the mind.  Yoga practice is a moving meditation meant to clear the mind of those thoughts that spin around and around, repeating themselves over and over. Some of them are worries about the future and some are regrets from the past. None of them are useful. Buddhists call the untrained mind “monkey mind”. Thoughts jump from subject to subject randomly in the same way a monkey jumps from tree to tree, accomplishing nothing and increasing the bodies stress reactions. Yoga can help to slow and focus the mind and exercise the body to relieve constant thinking.

Brain experts say that the average human has 70,000 thoughts per day.  Feeling stressed and having trouble with worried thoughts I enter the peaceful yoga room hoping to let go of at least 10,000 of the most harmful ones. The underlying yogic principle is that slow breathing coupled with strenuous movements and poses increases the body’s tolerance for stress and decreases reactivity. Most of us do not breathe deeply enough. Deep breathing can help the mind take a break.   My, yet to be a yoga master brain, does some random thinking during class.

  Upon entering my mind starts thinking ….hmm where should my mat go….next to that fit and possibly single  man….is he married…yep, that’s his wife next to him…okay third row instead….great…. next to the thin young thing….okay take a glance in the mirror….oh man, I am in front of the fat mirror…at least I hope this is the fat mirror…….how many calories am I going to burn……next class I want the other side of the room and the skinny mirror….  Breathe. Breathe…I am nailing these sun salutations. This is the longest pose hold ever…my butt muscle is burning….oh please….maybe I’ll have a great yoga butt… phew….next pose….okay, relax….hmmm…cheesecake could be good right now…is that my stomach…how embarrassing…whoa….I never can balance in this pose…slim young thing looks steady as a rock….maybe chocolate cake…yeah..cake it is…how many calories am I burning…breathe…center….wonder where young thing got her yoga pants…maybe new pants and I wouldn’t need the skinny mirror…

I think you get the idea.

If you have never tried to stop your thinking give it a shot. It is hard. Yogis say that you should not dwell on how tough it is. Just continue to witness what your brain is up to and eventually you will learn to let thinking go. I have been somewhat successful at this. It really does feel amazing and can help with the stresses of life.  It never helps to have an agile and strong young thing next to you in class, but yoga is supposed to be noncompetitive. Try telling my brain that.