Present.

Ever notice how certain people in your life are negative and tend to bring you down?
Other people are positive and always bring you up?
Well every once and a while the big guys upstairs decide to send you a really big "pick me up" person in life, and this year - it's my yoga instructor.

I honestly don't know how I have been managing college without yoga all these years - it has been the most comforting stress relief to learn. I try to give myself time to do some basic poses every night and morning, which proves sometimes challenging - especially when I have to study on average at least 3 or more hours of Japanese every day.

My professor is very zen and reads us daily quotes and Sanskrit sayings. He also incorporates a lot of chakra work into our yoga. The moment we walk into that room he instructs us to forget about homework, rent, gas and grocery money. It is completely void of talking and is our only "quiet hour of the day". Today he discussed humans and our "monkey mind- always thinking about the past or future when all we have is the present". It really got me thinking...most people (myself included), spend time worrying about either past actions, or what the future will / should be like...all the while the only thing we do have control over - the present - is passing right before our eyes. Therefore my new goal this semester is to appreciate the present for all it is - none of us will ever be at this same stage or moment in life again - good or bad - we just need to accept and experience the present for all it is.



"Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.
It isn't more complicated that that.
It is opening to or recieving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is,
without either clinging to it or rejecting it."
-Sylvia Boorstein

This concept is nothing new if you have ever studied Asian religion - but it is nice to have a weekly instructor who replants the ideas in your mind. I find that it is also helpful (as new age as this may sound) to focus on positive thoughts while doing yoga / meditation. Being a positive person in a world full of ever spreading negativity can be hard- so I leave you with one of my favorites...

"Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth."
-Sutta Nipata