I spent the last week at the Chapin Mills Buddhist Retreat Centre as I trained to become a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction – Morning Yoga
The week was more than I could have hoped for, but that’s for another post. Each morning we started off with 30 minutes of mindful yoga and a 30-minutes of mindfulness meditation. By the end of the week we were teaching others how to engage in mindful yoga stretches as part of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program.
I have been doing yoga for five years now and quite enjoy being a student. This was the first time I’ve had the experience of guiding others through it. It was more difficult that I thought it would be. When I’m being guided by a teacher I know when to breathe, how to move through the stretches and can move at a nice slow pace.
When I tried to teach it to other I fumbled a little, clearly I need more practice.
So this brings me back to my morning mindful yoga today. Instead of turning on a video to guide me, I decided to guide myself. Here is what I learned. I like to rush through transition periods. It started out kinda like speed yoga – which was not very relaxing at all.
I kept wondering why I wasn’t getting the same sense of relaxation as I do when others guide me. Then I realized – I was not holding the poses long enough and I was not taking enough time during the transition from one pose to the next.
This relates to the rest of my life as well. I tend to rush from one activity to the next, often anticipating the next one before I complete the present one. But isn’t that how most people are these days? It unfortunate because I’m missing out on the present moment during most of the day and that’s really where life is. I also tire myself with no down time between tasks. This is where my training in mindfulness based stress reduction comes in handy.
Once I recognized my tendency for speed yoga I choose to start counting my breaths, for each pose and in between poses as well. I began to slow down and be very mindful of each movement and breathe I had. It became much more relaxing as I learned to resist the impulse to rush ahead.
Like my Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher says… “being here, in this moment, moment by moment”.
This is why I love mindfulness and the different types of meditation, whether it’s yoga, sitting meditation or walking meditation – I always learn things about myself and can bring more joy and peace into my life.
My intention is to take this insight and try to remember to apply it to the rest of my day – to take some time and pause between tasks, even if only for a few breaths.
What about you, do you rush from task to task? Do you anticipate what you’ll be doing in a hour, day or week instead of being in the moment? What are you missing by living in the future, or the past, instead of in the present moment? Let me know in the comments below.
Your mindful mission for the day…. take a few deep breaths between tasks/meetings/conversations and see how it changes your day.
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