Yoga teachers are here to teach presence. Learning to be more present on our mats can help us as time goes on to be more present off of our mats, in the real world. But the world we currently live in is a world full of distraction, bombardment of social media and constant running around in auto-pilot. We are running to the next place with barely any time to enjoy the moment we are in.
We see it all the time! People on their phones in check out lines instead of having a “How is your day?” conversation with the cashier. We see kids being pushed in strollers with ipads strapped to the handle bars so they stay occupied. We see parents at their kids soccer games texting only to look up and realize they missed their kid’s first goal. Tvs are in the backseats of cars these days. Toddlers know how to use the iphone. The list goes on and on.
The one that really gets me is texting and driving?!?!?! How did that become so normal? We are THAT distracted. You see people swerving all over the road. You pass someone and see them looking down at their phone instead of ahead when they are going 40 mph or sometimes even more. It is CRAZINESSS!!!!!
The icing on the cake is the picture in this post and actually is what prompted me to want to write about this. I took my 6 yr old nephew to the mall the other day. He was SO excited the Easter Bunny was there. He wanted to go up and say hi. We were coming up behind him so he wasn’t really in eye sight just yet. As we came around the side, we were both SHOCKED at what we saw. There he was sitting in his chair texting away. I found it so interesting and validates my point even more about the distracted world we live in, that I had to snap a pic as I knew it would be great for this post! And I am trying to prove a point! Anyway, back to the story, he was completely oblivious that we were there. My nephew, whose eyes were super wide at this point said, “Wonder who the Easter bunny is texting? Maybe he is texting his mom Happy Easter?” As soon as the bunny saw us, he scrambled to put his phone away and waved. This is the world we live in.
Yoga is our time away from all of that stuff. The physical practice of power yoga is what attracted me to this style back in 1998. The more I practiced, the more I realized the mental space was what I needed the most and became more important over time.
When you leave a power yoga class the next time, be present in the real word as you are present during class. Avoid the urge to check your phone in the check out line or better yet, as soon as class is over. Put your phone in the glove compartment before you get behind the wheel. Turn off the phone when you watch your kids play sports. Don’t have the phone out at the dinner table. Be present!
