Namaste
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Another one of my absolute favorite yoga teachers in LA is Andrea Marcum. She is a yoga goddess. About a year and a half ago, Andrea opened U Studio on Wilshire. Her classes are incredible - yoga at it's most challenging in a heated room (although not the insane 120 degrees that you'll find in bikram...she's a reasonable woman even if she does kick my ass) with gargantuan windows that let the light flood in. But my favorite part of Andrea's class is what she reminds us of at the end - and it's something I've taken with me to close all of my yoga practices. At the end of class, as we sit on our mats dripping sweat and chanting our communal namaste, we bring our hands into prayer. And Andrea, in her grounded, calming voice, asks us to raise our hands in prayer - first to our foreheads, then to our lips and finally, in front of our hearts reminding us to be mindful in what we think, what we say, and what we do.
I LOVE THIS.
How genius is that statement in all of it's simplicity?
Simply be mindful in what we think, what we say, and what we do.
Let's get honest - how often are we REALLY? Sometimes. Occasionally. Here and there. Some moments more than others. I know at the end of every yoga class I remind myself, but I walk out into the world and some days I forget it the second I get in my car and start driving and some jerk cuts me off and there I am - I think "What an ass!" then I say "What and ass!" and then spend the next 10 minutes acting like a moron being angry at the ass who probably didn't mean to cut me off to begin with. And even if he did, what good is screaming at him going to do me???
So today I'm giving myself a new challenge...today I want to do it more. I want to be completely conscious of the thoughts that cloud my brain so that I can weed out the negative ones, the ones that are judgmental, the things that hold me back. Perhaps (don't fall over when I say this) I will learn to speak less and listen more. And as we all know, actions speak louder than words. So perhaps I should shut up now, and just listen to Gandhi...
What would the world be like if we all got just a little more conscious of what we think, say, and do? What if?
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 1:13 PM
Labels: conscious living, yoga
