In 1654 Blaise Pascal said “All of humanity’s problem stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone”. There it is folks! this didn’t just start with the advent of mobile phones and netflix! It’s been a problem for centuries! The constant drive to be doing something, be plugged in, find external distraction, some noise, try to escape ‘ourSelves’! Anything but Silence and god forbid, Stillness!
oh the discomfort of Silence and Stillness…
I confess when it comes to doing the tax return I am right up there looking for any diversion! that dopamine loop, gimme gimme… and in that process I lose my power. Truth: Stillness is not our natural state, but almost as long as this has been truth is also a truth that man has been ‘In Pursuit of Stillness’ 🙂 (Chitta Vritti Nirodha). Centres for Silence and Stillness are a growing industry globally but you don’t have to traverse to far side of world to find some.
Honestly. It is wherever you are if you just pay attention. BUT. to help you with it we have fabricated the most favourable conditions for Silence and Stillness at our little Yoga School on Rue De Funchal. Part of those conditions (which we have made part of our Terms) is no devices in Yoga School. But the quest for distraction shows up at our Yoga School in the unwillingness of some to part with the smart watch/fitbit for the duration of the class… (lord, when I took up Yoga it was ‘no jewellery’ no earrings necklaces bracelets watches; this was no big deal for us practitioners then) now all we ask is no smart technology in the Yoga classroom folks; we have always been clear on this front; there’s a sign in the lobby (the only sign when you enter!), it is part of our ‘Terms’ that you sign on your first class with us (read our full Policy on this which also acknowledges the exceptions). Unfortunately this ‘no devices’ thing is a problem for some; but leaving the smart stuff outside the Yoga room folks this is part of how you commence your Yoga journey to yourSelf.. Some protest “oh its not on/broken/I don’t use it” (tuts, sighs, eye rolling when asked to remove) not realizing that just the ‘visual’ of having it leaves the studio open to accusation by others that they have seen others with the smart devices in the room so why can’t they have theirs… (and yes we are only human and some times they slip through without us seeing). Some don’t realize that when their arms are in the air and they cannot see their own device, others get the visual of the luminous screen activating/flashing… ~ help us out here folks, even if you don’t have it ‘on’ please take it ‘off’ before moving through the red doors; in our Yoga school we try to maintain a ‘cleanliness of vision’ for our students as well as a cleanliness of sound (read our ‘take’ on the Niyama ‘Saucha’ in our blog). You/We ALL know the basic business model of the people who make those devices/apps is to create a need for us to use their tech/app. Indeed they are out to ‘change’ us/our behaviours; to keep us preoccupied with ‘what they have decided they want us occupied with’ or as I would call it: ‘nothing’. The owners of that tech live off us; we are just a resource to be exploited by them. Their driver is FOMO… you are not missing anything that won’t be there/the same after class; you ARE missing the most valuable opportunity to spend time with yourSelf and even if you are not that ‘digitally distracted’ person, your digital piece sets a wrong tone in a Yoga environment (we are not a gym, we are a Yoga School).
That artificial world is the opposite of all that is occurring in your BY class. First, Mindfulness for yourSelf and others, the environment you are in, your behaviours, your effect on that environment and THEN… BY is about getting inside of what you are doing. Experiencing rather than viewing or intellectualizing. Opportunity not to be thinking; Or if you have to be thinking, to be thinking about something other than what you are normally thinking about with nothing around you that that might distract you from that. Allowing the moments on your mat to be BIG enough for you. THESE are the moments you don’t want to be missing out on. ON YOUR MAT you are not living vicariously through others, your employer, your family, your friends, your apps. On your mat (your little desert island) this is your life, right now, happening, you don’t want to miss a second of it.
This may be one of the many reasons I love Bikram Yoga so much; it is the most important work in the world (besides service to others). When you are new it forces you into the ‘present’ moment. You HAVE to listen to the instruction. You HAVE TO try your Best. You HAVE TO be in the moment to understand what is going on. You HAVE TO experience the reward (you earned it). You HAVE TO have no expectations. You HAVE TO do it even tho’ it is hard. Then you WANT TO do it even tho’ it is hard. You have no expectations. You ARE in the moment. You ARE your best.
YAY! YOU HAVE LET GO OF THE ‘HAVE TO / NEED TO’ MINDSET :). You have moved beyond your thinking mind. Maybe on your mat it is the only time in your day you allow yourself to BE. You listen, you connect; first to the teacher’s voice and your little inner voice. You ARE present.
You realize life is long if you know how to use it.
BY is an embrace. You do not want anything to interfere with that potential for a big hug. You do not want to waste any of your precious 90 minutes on anything that won’t bring you that hug.
THAT is your Bikram Yoga class; RICH time on your mat. No devices because YOU are ‘unavailable’ you are doing important work. You are busy being your best YOU. You have realized this quiet time on your mat is a luxury.
In class first we notice this ‘state’ that we are in… the fidget, the noise, the anticipation (ooh, what’s next) and all the distractions. We observe it (oooh its bad). We accept it (it has been there for a while after all). Then we start to work on it, you leave the distractions outside the room. We come to value the Space, the Time, the Silence, the opportunities for Stillness. You really don’t have to travel far to find yourself a little desert island, to find yourSelf; but maybe, just maybe it will help to travel to Yoga Matters, 3a Rue De Funchal 🙂 .
Om Om Om Welcome to your journey to yourSelf