PAYING ATTENTION
JANUARY 3RD, 2009: So this morning I was engaged in my regular ritual of making chai tea but as I was doing so I was also preparing my practice, finding smarties for class, you know I fell into that trap of multi tasking. As I was going about this I forgot for just a moment to pay attention to my tea and it spilled over. Forgetting to pay attention happens to the best of us.
WHY PAY ATTENTION? Because we aren’t going to get to do TODAY over again.
That’s why its important to be here NOW, right HERE, right NOW.
THERE IS NO WAITING.
We can begin right now paying attention to our own enjoyment or capacity to enjoy life: The Yoga Sutras say “enjoyment is the sweetness of noticing your life right now – smell, taste, feeling, sensation”
In class we each had 3 smarties to experience for ourselves how paying attention is a bit of a skill and we can improve it. This comes as a result of using the science of yoga breathing to train the mind in concentration while radically improving our ability to use the energy we receive from the air we breath. Equally we learn what paying attention is not: which Sean Corne says so well, *Well what it isn’t is trying to rewrite the past, we can learn something (even from those that have hurt you or things that didn’t go the way you wanted them to) and move on.”
So today really use the practice to quiet your mind by paying attention to what you can let go of. (Judith Lasater) And most importantly releasing your mind from constantly wanting your situation to be different. There is no reason to make war with what you feel, see or experience. Just open your heart to what you might be missing and repeat this mantra: My life is precious and glorious! Love to you all, Silvia