I reached my studio just in time for my yoga class.
Too late, I noticed that the building next to mine was being brought down with drilling machines and hammers…. The sound was loud and aggressive and violent…. Most unsuited for a yoga class, for sure.
I had logged in with the rest of the class for the Google Meet. My mike was on mute. The teacher could see me sitting peacefully on my mat, oblivious of the cloud of noise that surrounded me.
I sat in sukhasana, straining to hear her instructions. My strongest desire was wanting to give up, roll my mat and just head home.
I noticed all the other participants… Each one in their own quiet world, or so it seemed. No one was aware of the mess that surrounded me….was I aware of theirs?… In our world, we carry our noise so close to our heart… Putting up a normal face for the world to see…
As I strained to follow instructions and keep up with the class I started involving myself more in the asanas, I felt the noise receding in the background occasionally, enough for me to actually forget about it for some time.
On that morning I realised two important truths… Behind the faces we see, there is a clamour of different, sometimes very unpleasant sounds…never spoken of, but being dealt with anyways.
Be aware. Be kind. Be available.
Second… No matter how loud and messy it seems right now… The body has mechanisms to cope…
Have faith and focus… Things might not disappear or change, but we’ll get better at handling them… ️
Then there’s a third learning too… The option to roll up and leave could have been exercised but then I would’ve missed out on all the other calming and empowering insights that falling bricks literally dropped on my head!
So, plod along…
