33
february / march 2018yogajournal.com.sgpeace
mind
of
Y
ou’re standing in Virabhadrasana
I (Warrior Pose I). You actively
reach through your back foot
and allow your tailbone to
descend away from your lower back as
your arms reach up toward the ceiling.
As you hold the pose you start to notice
your front thigh burning, your shoulders
holding tension, and your breath becoming
labored. Still holding. Soon you get
agitated and start to anticipate the joy
you’ll feel when the pose is over. Your
breath becomes shallow while you await
the teacher’s instruction to come out of the
pose. But she doesn’t say anything. You
label her a sadist. Still holding. You decide
that you are never coming back to yoga.
As your thigh starts to shake, you mentally
check out. Frustrated, you drop your arms
and look around the room, defeated.
Now imagine this: You’re standing
in Virabhadrasana I, noticing the same
sensations, having the same thoughts and
feelings—anger, boredom, impatience,
tension. But instead of reacting, you simply
observe your thoughts. You remember that
this pose, like everything else in life, will
eventually end. You remind yourself not to
get caught up in your own story line. And,
in the midst of feeling irritated while yourthighs burn, you appreciate the sweetness
of the moment. You may even feel a wash
of gratitude that you have the time and
privilege to do a hatha yoga practice. Then
you bring your awareness back to your
breath and witness the ongoing sensations
and thoughts until the teacher guides you
out of the pose.
You’ve just experienced the benefits of
mindfulness—of bringing your awareness
into the present moment, of noticing and
accepting what is happening right now
without judgment or reaction. And, no
doubt, it feels a lot better than the first
scenario (which you might recognize as
something you’ve also experienced).
Mindfulness is something that Buddhist
meditators cultivate. And it’s something
that all styles of hatha yoga teach, often
through an emphasis on breath awareness.
Lately, a group of teachers, who
independently discovered the benefits of
merging mindfulness with asana, has begun
to offer something we might call mindful
yoga. “My experience is that when we really
cultivate mindfulness in the hatha and sitting
practice, it almost naturally begins to seep
into our other activities,” says Frank Jude
Boccio, the author of Mindfulness Yoga.by Nora Isaacs
MEDITATION
practice well