Every morning after meditation we'll sit and chat for about 5-10 minutes about how we're feeling, what we thought of it, and any general announcements for the day. It's a nice way to start the day and get everyone going. Personally though, meditation has been pretty difficult for me. There are very little instances I can recall when my mind wasn't thinking ahead in anticipation of the next event. Even when I'm listening to people talk it's hard for me to actively pay attention because I'm contemplating what will happen afterward. So instead of just letting myself be in mediation, I'm overwhelmed by the millions of thoughts rushing through my head. I do acknowledge this though and I am working to become focused on the now.
After meditation today we discussed the process of acknowledging thoughts and then letting them pass - not concerned with the past or the future, but the stillness that our mind can achieve through conscious meditation. And, ironically, or perhaps meant to be, in Philosophy today we studied Sutra 1.1 from Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Bks Iyengar. It is, as described by our instructor Robin, now; is the discipline of yoga. In other words, being in the present will determine one's practice and ultimately help them achieve more in each posture.
Several questions were brought up which I found to be quite thought provoking:
-Why are we keeping things (memories of the past or fantasies of the future) that aren't helping us in the present?
-Why do we neglect the now and think only in anticipation of what will happen?
Essentially, we can't do anything about the past - it's done and there's no changing it (sorry Marty McFly). I have a difficult time with this because I'm always thinking about what could have happened or what I should have done differently. And on the flip side, I'm a huge planner which means I always want to know what will happen next. What's the weather going to be like? What am I going to eat for dinner tomorrow (when it's only breakfast time today)?
And then, the big revelation - the only thing you can control in the world is your attitude. We can't change what people will think of us, but we can operate in the now and be present, foregoing any negative feelings that may interrupt our peace. Sounds pretty "yogi/hippy" I know, but really it can apply to any person, you don't have to practice yoga to take on this approach to life. With that, I encourage you to just be and not dwell on what did or what might happen. In the end, if we spend so much time focused on everything besides what is actually happening, we'll lose sight of what's in front of us - life!
_Peace and Love
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