106.
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.