Slow Your Roll & Live Deep

Photo By Jen at Contariwise.org; Tattoo belongs to Kelly Cruttenden

Neil Gaiman and Carrie Newcomer are full of wisdom. I ran across the two quotes below on the same day and started thinking . . .

“Power skiing across an ocean of multi-tasking” – we all do it and think hey, look at all the things I have accomplished, as we reach the end of the day exhausted and over committed for the coming day.

You hear “It’s the journey, not the destination” but still we find ourselves rushing off to the next thing.  What about the current thing?  If you’ve decided it’s worth surrendering this precious slice of your one and only life on this current thing, then it MUST be worthy of your full attention, RIGHT?  If not, it’s a sort of “death” of that precious slice of your one life.

Think about the last time you tied the laces on your shoes: … did you appreciate the marvel of dexterous fingers and clever shoe design … did you appreciate how your body can bend over and even reach your feet … did you stop and feel gratitude for you two good feet, two good shoes, a place to store them and money to buy them?

Are you filling your precious one life of finite seconds with meaningless tasks or can you slow your roll and see a miracle in the common?

YOGA can teach you to live DEEP:

Tadasana (Mountain Pose) can teach you to be firm in your own two feet, and rely on your own internal balance, remaining unruffled by changing times, politics, annoying people, traffic, etc.

Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) can teach you to be firm in your own two feet while life bends you at angles and shifts your point of view.

Virhabdrasana II (Warrior II) can teach you that even when your foundation has shifted and you look out over the horizon, you can still be firm and fierce to face the now.

Salamba Sirsasana (Headstand) can teach you get a new point of view, shake up your old assumptions about, well, everything, as you use your internal balance to remain poised in the midst of looking at your world upside down.

~Neil Gaiman, Sandman
You get what anybody gets Bernie, you get a lifetime.

~Carrie Newcomer
I used to think
That because life is short I should do more be more
squeeze more into each and every day.
I’d walk around with a stick ruler
with increasing numbers as the measure of fullness.

But lately I’ve sensed a different response
to a lack of time.
Felt in my bones The singular worth
of each passing moment.
Perhaps the goal is not to spend this day
Power skiing atop an ocean of multi-tasking.
Maybe the idea is to swim slower
surer
dive deeper
and really look around.

There is a difference between
A life of width
and a life of depth.