Samadi Yoga

A common cause of human suffering is the incessant thinking mind. Many of our thoughts, when observed, are not necessary for our daily living. They mostly serve as distractions and hinder our potential to be in the moment and to be happy.

As we perform an activity, we can be in that exact moment without thinking about other "stories." The stories involve worrying, planning, and obsessing over challenges that we may encounter with challenges or the people around us.

The reason many of us LOVE and cherish our yoga practice is that it helps us create space to take a block of time to think about nothing but the movement of our bodies and our breath. It is valuable, necessary, and a welcome reprieve for our "monkey minds".

Our Yoga and Meditation classes reinforce our Presence Practice, but the following is an additional exercise we can incorporate into our daily routine.

Choose one brief activity that you do every single day. This activity could be as simple as making morning coffee or tea, putting on shoes, or walking up the stairs. Next, practice complete presence during this brief and easy activity with no thought about anything other than the actual activity being performed. Focus your mind on the activity, feel your breath, and be in the moment, completely aware. Try to do this at least once a day and increase it up to three times a day. You will notice that it becomes easier for you to stay conscious and aware throughout your day and ultimately throughout your lifetime.

This practice alone will help you stay in the present moment and practice not thinking. Try not to pick an activity that takes longer than a minute. Thought is useful to get things done in our lives, but it can be addictive and toxic when we become consumed by the thinking mind without rest.