Dani Shapiro

Lately I've been having trouble sitting still.  Oh, it's always a challenge, but these days my body feels twitchy, impatient, my mind racing with its endless to do lists.  So be it.  I still need to sit down--the hardest part is sitting down--and never once have I ever regretted the five, ten, twenty minutes of stillness, even when I rise from my mat afterward, my mind still banging around like trapped bird.  Certainly it helps to practice yoga before even attempting to sit down--though I don't always have the luxury of carving an hour and a half out of my day.  But here's a question: is it a luxury?  Just exactly how much better off am I--and everyone around me--when I have made sure to prioritize my practice?  Just the other day, I was in the middle of a reverse triangle pose and realized that I was taking mental notes.  I had forgotten all about breathing.   Gotta cancel the dentist.  Need to call that magazine editor. It got so bad that I actually stopped for a moment, walked from my yoga mat in my bedroom into my office and wrote a few things down.  That way, at least, I could release my mind from the futile, slippery slope of holding onto thoughts.  Breathe in, I am breathing in.  Breathe out, I am breathing out.  So simple, really.  And so elusive.