When we arrive to our yoga class, we hurry to find a parking spot, rush to sign in, push our way through the room to find “our spot”, set ourselves up, organize our belongings, and take a seat on our mats… Then, finally, we take a deep breath: “Aaaaaah…” and it may be the first complete, conscious breath we have taken all day.  We begin to attempt the difficult task of letting go of everything that happened before we arrived to our practice.  We allow ourselves to start slowing down.  It is at this precise moment that we realize how rushed the rest of our morning, afternoon, or day has been. Our perspective subtly shifts from “doing” into “being” and we relax.

As we flow through our practice, we attempt to move with intention and with grace.  We recognize that to accomplish this, we must slow down our minds and our bodies.  It is not possible to rush AND to move with grace. Grace, elegance, and poise come from a place of peace.

Unfortunately, a strange thing happens to many of us when we leave our mats.  Sometimes it even creeps up on us in Savasana, before we have even completed our practice!  Stress, impatience, and a sense of urgency starts to set in. We fall back into the cloud of unconscious, stress-driven rushing. We seem to have a sense that if we do not rush, nothing will get done. 

In fact, the opposite is true. Through slow, deliberate, intentional action, we find success in our daily dealings.  How many opportunities are we missing when we rush?  Maybe what we need most is what is right in front of us, trying to get our attention while we are too busy rushing toward something else. 

What would happen if we left our yoga class and continued to move slowly and deliberately off the mat? Would nothing get done? Or would we find that life is NOT rushing by us as we assume it is?  Would we find that everything is moving and happening just as it is meant to? And that by moving slowly we are able to see, think, and speak more clearly, our minds are more focused, and we are able to make better decisions instead of haphazardly rushing through this extraordinary world?  

“If your eyes are ears are open, you will see the windows of opportunity open around you.” Cherie Carter-Scott

“If I could begin life again, I should want it just as it was, only I would open my eyes more.” Jules Renard