Have you ever driven home from work, pulled into your driveway and wonder how you got there? Maybe you were driving down the road when you saw an old 60-something Mustang pass by, which reminded you of the one your dad had that was navy blue with the white vinyl top. You remember your 5-year-old self riding in the backseat with the windows down and how you had to hold onto your braided pigtails to keep them from flying around and smacking you in the face, which kind of hurt because of those giant balls on the end of the elastic bands. You remember how sometimes it was hard to catch your breath in the wind when you were riding down the highway, and you wonder how dogs can ride down the road with their heads out the window and still breathe. Then you pull into your driveway, realizing you don’t remember making the right turn into your neighborhood. Your mind was somewhere else. It’s usually not our memory to blame when we forget to stop at the post office or we walk into a room and forget what we came for; we’re just not fully present. We tend to live a pretty distracted life, going through our daily routines without really noticing where we’re going. Our minds are overloaded with to-do lists, stuck replaying stressful points from the day or events from the past, or thinking ahead to what’s for dinner. We’re so overwhelmed with thoughts of the past and future that we’ve forgotten how to focus on what’s right in front of us. We’ve even been trained to believe that multitasking is a necessary skill. When is the last time you remember being fully present for a simple task, like driving to the store or washing the dishes? Mindfulness is a big buzzword these days, and for good reason. Mindfulness is defined as a mental state of complete awareness of the present moment, it’s being fully present with the task at hand, paying attention to all the details of your life. It’s the direct opposite of taking life for granted. We’ve all heard the phrase “take time to stop and smell the roses” but how often do we really implement those wise words into our lives? If you’re looking for ways to bring more mindful awareness into your days, meditation, breathwork, and yoga are great places to start. When we’re immersed in the practice of focused breathing and movement, it’s hard for our minds to wander anywhere else. Join me at Salty Dog Yoga on Friday mornings at 9am for Mindful Yoga, an all levels practice where we’ll slow down, tune in and observe our bodies and our minds on the mat, witnessing where we are without judgement. With a little practice, the tools we learn on the mat will begin to work their way into the rest of our lives, and we can let that Mustang pass by without venturing too far down the rabbit hole of the past.
Mindful Yoga
Fridays at 9am at Salty Dog Yoga & Surf
Carolina Beach, NC