“Don’t Let the Future Steal Your Present”

If you have ever been to a yoga class you have probably heard how important it is to be present during your practice, or they may have stressed how important mindfulness is. Yoga without focus is null and void. You’ll be doing the poses but at the end of the practice you’ll probably be left with unsatisfied thoughts and wondering what it is you even did. There’s a lot of situations in life that this can apply to. Like having sex with your partner and present in the moment letting various thoughts fill your mind, you’re probably left unsatisfied and wondering what it is you even did, right? Or if you called yourself watching a movie and you were constantly distracted with thoughts the whole time, at the end of the movie you were probably wondering why you have no idea what happened in the movie. Being present is important with many things in life aside from yoga, but yoga is one of the simplest healers so let’s go over some steps you can take to practice mindfulness 

In yoga practice, it’s important to start by centering yourself. Allow your mind to catch up and be I n sync with what you’re body is doing. This can also be called meditation. Giving yourself that time to focus on you and nothing else.  This practice isn’t only for the yoga mat. You can be in your bed before/after you start your day, In the car before you head to work,  in the kitchen before you prep your meals, wherever. 

To do this. You want to just stop what your doing, find your breath( take deep inhales and exhales) , relax your body, clear your mind of thoughts(use your focus on breath to do so). Once you get to a clear state of mind, set an intention for yourself (to get a specific task done, to stay positive today, etc) and do what you can to make sure that intention stays true. If you break your intention, you can always try again. 

“Depression lives in the past and anxiety lives in the future, therefore calmness and peace lives in the present” - Elyssa Barbash

What are different ways that you center yourself when filled with life’s distractions ?