the Yogi utility belt

I sort-of love Batman…not only is he incredibly handsome, he’s also unquestionably good —if he practiced Yoga everyday he’d be the total package ❤  alas, he is a fictional character so somethings are not possible, but I can still learn from him. Abound the many things I’ve learned from Batman I’ve also appropriated his use of a utility belt. Though I don’t carry smoke bombs or handcuffs in mine, my utility belt holds Yoga tools…

my Yogi utility belt includes

1. Breath Awareness
2. Rhythm of our Heart
3. Senses
4. Internal Narrative

The principal tool to help bring us back to center is the breath, many Yoga teachers teach their students to tune into their breathing in order to unite awareness of mind and body. Our bodies can do far more than what our often limiting minds can imagine; by tuning into our breathing we can circumvent our limiting thinking and focus right on Source, the present moment. When we focus on our Present nothing else is of importance —what matters is whatever we are focusing on. So tuning into our breath is a great tool to have in our Yogi utility belt, our breathing is semi-constant until we die (different factors cause it to fluctuate) so Breath Awareness is a great resource!

By using Breath Awareness, by actively trying to listen to our own breath, by consciously focusing on it, we help unite ourselves to our own present experience, and we become a true Yogi, i.e. united and in harmony with all there is.

 

Life is not lived in the past and it’s only imagined in the future, so the only real thing is right here, right now. 

2. On a deeper level of consciousness actively listening to the Rhythm of our Heart will successfully unite us to the here and now. Tuning into our own inner rhythm offers so much more than I am able to describe as this is still a relatively new practice for me. All I know is that before we were even breathing we were beating, so our own individual heart rhythm sings of deeper knowledge —our rhythm is in everlasting harmony with all of life.

How do I become in-tune with my Present?
By listening to my own inner rhythm. 

3. We have these marvelous Sense that allow us to perceive life and the world around —when we actively use them they help us to identify the present moment, they help us to become one with our gift. For example the conversation at the next table may have gotten a bit loud and it’s taking over your attention by using your Senses, for example by feeling your own body, you can come back to your own experience. Perhaps it’s time to shift your sitting position, perhaps it’s time to get up, perhaps it’s time to appreciate the cool breeze. You can feel, and you can see: observe the world around you. Everything is so alive. Everyone is living their own story, sometimes out-loud, sometimes in their heads. Some people worry about their appearance, some people worry about money, others worry about what they should be doing, while some worry that they’re doing too much…yet there are few who just sit back and appreciate the little things; they truly live their lives actively seeing, tasting, feeling, smelling, listening.

When was the last time you stopped and smelled the roses?
Can you almost taste the world around you when it rains?
Some plants feel like velvet, others like plastic.
Every sound plays in the overall melody.
Things look different from far away.

The last tool I have in my Yogi utility belt is my Internal Narrative tool. We are taught to write stories by first identifying some factors: who, what, when, where, why and how. Identifying those factors in or own inner narrative, especially in moments of obscurity, allows us to take charge of our own Internal Narrative. When we are the Directors of our own lives outer circumstances weigh almost nothing. It’s good to be light on our feet, it’s good to enjoy life, it’s good to be united and in harmony with our one and only human existence

Yogi —a practitioner of Yoga (the union of mind, body, and spirit) in harmony with the human experience.

Once a Yogi always a Yogi. As a Yogi you will encounter different teachers throughout your lifetime, each teacher will offer you different tools to help enhance your Yoga practice, and it’s up to you to decide which tools you keep and which you will not add to your Yogi utility belt.

few good posts:

1. why should I meditate everyday?
2. what is being Present?
3. 27 signs you are emotionally sick