“Aint nobody got time for that!” – Sweet Brown I used to hate savasana. I was “that girl” that, as discretely as possible, rolled up her mat and tip toed around the grid of supine bodies, gingerly opening the door and slipping out, hoping to have left unnoticed. I thought- “OK, workout’s over! I’ve got better things to do! No sense in lying down and burning nothing!” (This was also during a time when my web browser search history included “calories burned during yoga.” That’s another matter, in itself.) “Busy” is not a unique state of being, these days. Our schedules are tightly packed and our to-do lists are ever-growing. We’ve perfected the art of multi-tasking in order to make the most of our waking hours, yet we still feel like there is never enough time in the day. We’ve grown so accustomed to the constant mode of “doing” that we feel an incredible sense of unproductiveness and discomfort when we are forced to just “be,” even if for just a few breaths. A sense of guilt arises when we stop for a moment to do nothing. Even if those around us don’t notice our pause in time, (and they probably don’t… we aren’t nearly as vital to the flow of world around us as we often think...) we harshly judge ourselves unless we feel our “busy-ness” has gotten to a level deemed deserving of a “break.” This all seems quite exhausting. I think I need a nap. Although meditation is wonderful and I do highly promote its practice, I’m not suggesting we all incorporate a guided imagery session of “oms” in to every day. But, I do think there is a sigh of relief that comes from admitting to ourselves that maybe there is enough time in the day... that we can take responsibility for how “busy” we make ourselves… that perhaps we are afraid (or ashamed) to set aside a regularly scheduled block of free time… that we might secretly find pride in responding with an overly stressed, head shaking, deeply sighed “busy!” when asked how we are doing. It is possible that my thoughts on this may change if I one day find myself with the fortuitous problem of having too many opportunities to handle or if/once I have a family (I don’t know how some of those super-moms do it!), but I believe that there is nothing inherently wrong about taking a moment to breathe. In fact, it would likely increase the productivity of our times of “doing.” There’s beautiful irony in the challenge to get comfortable with stillness… to understand that there is no worldly accolade for being the busiest person in existence… and to finally find meaning in “we are human beings, not human doings.” ☮
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:07:16 +0000
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