Skip to main content

Peace for Dummies

Thursday, March 28, 2019,
Still enjoying a wonderful week of vacation.

My internal alarm is getting me up at 5:00AM, so I plod out into the kitchen for coffee.

It's 8:23AM as I type this post, and I'm feeling well, but I can tell that my brain is flying around.  I'm going to focus on mental control in today's practice.

Thursday, March 28, 2019 (Part II)
I focused my mind and breath with greater intent today and I believe it paid off.

It is extremely tricky to control your mind.  Try to "not think" about anything for any length of time, and your mind starts to stir, almost within seconds.  You'll start thinking about work, friends, to-do lists, that embarrassing thing you did in the 7th grade; you'll start thinking about "not thinking" and if you're doing enough "not thinking" to really be "not thinking".

I joke with what I'm writing above, but your brain really does flit around like that almost all of the time.

Making your "internal voice" go silent can be done, however, and when your mind is quiet, things seem much more still, tangible, and small.  Your problems, that once seemed enormous and complex, seem trivial and simple, "why did I ever worry about that".   I suppose this is a cheater's guide to gaining peace, but it works and is a marvelous habit that you form when you practice yoga.

It's difficult to maintain this peace once you leave your mat, as I'm about to do, but, like anything, it quickly becomes a habit.

Time to shower up and enter the world.

Namaste

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Rebuild

Tuesday, July 10, 2018 Woke at my usual 4:45AM this morning for coffee and contemplation. Feeling wonderful this morning, and not terribly sore at all.  There's a bit of stiffness in my back from yesterday's backbends, but that's to be expected. Ready to sweat it out on my mat. Tuesday, July 10, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this off my mat, already showered up for my day. I love going to my mat.  The physical challenge alone is reward enough, but, while I've said it many times before, the mental and spiritual adjustments that one can make are priceless.  Physically, I already see a difference in my body.  Arms are still re-building their stamina, but the twists and forward bends I incorporate are already helping with digestion and elimination and the general "deflating" of my body and G.I. track (TMI, I'm sure, but this is one of the main physical reasons why I practice). Mentally, I feel prepared for anything that comes my way today and fe...

Asana

Monday, March 30, 2020 After no physical practice/Asanas on Friday, and no yoga over the weekend, I notice that it's difficult to stay motivated and dedicated to my practice at times.  Additionally, I ran a solo-10K this weekend (the St. Louis GO! Marathon/Half-Marthon/10K was cancelled, like most public events), and the additional tenderness in my feet, legs, etc. definitely told me not to get on my mat. Monday blues/malaise, essentially.....a "negative mind"... When I'm on my mat, feeling like it's pointless, and that the day ahead is pointless, and that the efforts I'll expend to make things better are pointless, I can go back to the foundations of my life.  First, what do I live for?  I live for God.  That is my attempted mantra every day. It is not for me/you to understand the purpose of anything.  Pulling yourself out of an equation is very liberating in that you're no longer attached to the result. It's 5:27AM as I type this, and it...

Be Driven

Friday, March 8, 2024, Motivation and drive will come and go.  Like all humans, one has a physical health and a mental health (and you could argue, other types of health too).  Some aspects of physical and mental health are fully silo'd from each other and sometimes, they overlap.  Have you ever felt physically ill, tired, unwell, "off", etc.....of course you have.....everyone has......that physical feeling of being unwell can, and will, effect your mental health.  The state of your body effects the state of your mind. The inverse of this is true as well; the state of your mind can, and will, effect your body.  Mind over body is, most often, the way to live as it demonstrates "who is boss" (your mind is), and who controls who (your mind should control your body)...." no....we're not going to eat Doritos and watch TV for 5 hours........no, we're not going to avoid our chore/task, etc. that we said we'd do........no, we're not going to order a...