Yoga Journal, Daily Insight
By Erica Rodefrer
March 13, 2009
Feel Serene - Embody the Present
Our culture values productivity and speed. Before we know it, we're embroiled in a perpetual battle with time, missing out on our connections to our deeper selves and to others. If your busy schedule leaves you feeling drained and depleted, maybe it's time to reevaluate your relationship with time. Mindfulness of time is rooted in the philosophy described in the Yoga Sutra-particularly the concepts of self-study, honesty, and nongrasping. Practicing these concepts together can help bring you into harmony with time and allow you to enjoy the present moment.
-Look inward and get to know yourself better. Ask yourself questions: Besides eating and sleeping, how do I allocate my time in a typical 24-hour period? Do the activities on which I spend most of my time nourish me, or do they feel obligatory? Your answers will help identify the activities that are intrinsically important to you as well as the pace that's most compatible with your own organic rhythms.
-Self-study opens up your truths. Now, try to acknowledge and honor your truths, even if they're painful. Eventually, your truth will illuminate what's possible and what's not.
-Let go of the need to achieve more. When you can stop grasping, even if only for a little while, you can access that state of flow, remain in the present, and enjoy and harvest the time that is available to you.
Practicing these concepts will help cultivate awareness to the moment. Each and every moment holds the potential for a transformative experience of time. Don't be tied down to that stressful clock-embody the present.
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