Close Your Eyes and Dip Your Toe In.

FOCUS...does not come easily for me.  Even as I write this sentence I have drifted off, checked the phone and mentally changed the subject.  My mind darts from subject to subject and my eyes fix on one blur of an object, but when I manage to achieve those moments of directed attention, singular intention...crystal clear focus.. well that is a sweet feeling.  Yoga guides me toward that place where the unnecessary fades away so that I can actually listen and learn.

It is so easy to be distracted in this city.  Walking through the streets can feel very much like an arcade game and the idea of a "quiet night" seems like a fairy tale, but when I deepen my breath and begin to move through my asanas the rest of the world becomes muted.  My racing thoughts are replaced by a visceral exploration, a fluidity of movement that becomes natural, instinctual.  Allowing my mind to rest brings a sort of effortless clarity and I finally realize that all of those questions that are circling my mind find a way to work themselves out if I let them.

Call it a discipline, an escape, maybe even an awakening, however you choose to look at it or whatever impressions you may have of yoga, there is no denying that you probably feel a little better having tried it.  You don't have to chant to the gods or stand on your head; it might be enough just to close your eyes and breath.  Take from it what you need and leave the rest behind, or maybe just put it to the side for now.