Taking Yoga Off the Mat

Greetings everyone,
I want to share a story this week about yoga not just taking place on a yoga mat.

My husband and I were at a MLB baseball game a couple of years ago where the Oakland A's were hosting the Boston Red Sox. We were sitting in the stands, enjoying the game and couldn't help but notice the loud conversation taking place in the seats behind us. It was a young man, sitting next to an older man (not certain if they knew each other prior to the beginning of the game) and the younger man was chatting MUCH MORE than the older man. In fact, the younger man had something to say about everything going on within his field of vision. He was saying things like, "Hey, pretty girl walking by with a hot dog. A's don't have any pitching. And blah, blah, blah..." Plus, he would make a "cluck" noise with every pitch, I suppose to emulate the sound of bat hitting the ball.

As I sat there, I tried practicing my yoga...staying within my own thoughts and experience...until, I hear the younger man begin to tell the older man that he'd been practicing yoga. Well...my rabbit ears went up and faced backwards. He had my attention now! He was saying "how much yoga had really opened him up and how fantastic he felt doing the classes. You know, it's not as easy as it looks", he was saying. And then, there it is once again. Out comes "hey...pretty lady with a hot dog!"

I drew my rabbit ears back into myself, turned to Ed and said, "now, that's what you call keeping yoga ON the mat".

To me, our physical yoga practice on our mat is a metaphor for how we live our greater life. What we think, how we react during something that challenges or bores us as well as teaching us how to stay calm and present no matter what the situation.

This week...see if you can bring your yoga OFF the mat!

Peace & Namaste',
Jayne