Fresh picked oranges. Poetry slam. 65 degree weather run. Local wine.
Oh, did I forget to mention the enlightening discussion regarding the power of living in this present moment?
Thank you, CA.
And thank you, especially, to my generous, thoughtful hosts who accepted me into their home and showed me an amazing time. It’s said that the people are what create the impression of any place, so this weekend forward, I’m embracing Modesto as a city of light and love.
I recently took a solo road trip to sunny California for a yoga teacher training on the subject of Unifying Body and Mind. It was a weekend full of introspection, discussion, critical reading, and asana. It was a weekend full of intention setting and mindfulness practice. It was a weekend full of focus on what is happening in this moment and all of the power that resides here.
One of the analogies that was told this weekend sticks out to me. It was presented to help us understand the value of prioritizing savoring the present.
When we are riding a bike, a task that is so natural, we can easily start to drift away from the task at hand, begin analyzing past events and expecting future ones, and suddenly we hit a pothole. This event jars us back to our present, where, for a few moments at least, we are noticing our surroundings, our environment, our body. If we were to stay present the entire bike ride, however, noticing the sun on our neck, feeling the push and pull of our feet, enjoying the colors that envelope us, we may not hit the pot hole in the first place. So, besides this gem of an application example, what else did I learn from this intensive dive into the importance of being present?
1.) We have enough energy to become anything we can imagine- if we don’t expend that energy on replaying the past or worrying about the future.
2.) When we accept the present moment fully, we accept ourselves fully, and we are then able to accept others fully.
3.) Give up waiting for a time to start living. In each moment, no matter how mundane we label it as, there is beauty or pain or growth.
4.) We determine what is a problem and if it causes us pain. A situation either needs to be dealt with or accepted.
5.) The present moment is all we ever, actually have.
One book that was read and discussed and focuses on these topics is Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. This book is digestible yet provides valuable insight into mindfulness practice. Recommended.
As I type this, in the evening, the house asleep, the sound of the keyboard and the dogs breathing breaking the stillness, I’m enjoying this moment, I’m enjoying being back in my home. It’s comforting to hear my voice in my head narrating these words and know that my beautiful family is asleep so close. These moments instill peacefulness in my mind and relaxation in my body. But the true realization is that moments like these are every moment, I just need to be aware of them.
Yogacentric 
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