Learning mindfulness through yoga Mindfulness is an art that brings us back to ourselves. Often, we're preoccupied with one thing while already thinking about two or three others. In our hectic world, multitasking is the epitome of a perfectly organized person who manages several projects simultaneously and usually completes them successfully. In our minds, we have images of people hurrying down the street, holding their phones to their ears, waving to someone, and already thinking about their first tasks at work.
According to Far Eastern insights, however, this is not the path to a successful life; for the simple reason that more is not always better, because material success doesn't truly bring satisfaction, and because such people wear themselves out while missing out on what's truly important in life: themselves and the true development of their personality. Incidentally, there's no question that such a life is associated with more stress and thus more danger to life and limb: strokes and heart attacks are more likely than in someone who lives a very mindful life.
Learn slowly
Anyone who has ever tried mindfulness knows that it's not that easy: A classic example is eating a single raisin. First, you examine it closely, then feel it with your fingers, bring it to your nose and smell it, then put it in your mouth, lick it, feel it, explore it, then bite it open and chew it for a long time to detect the different nuances of taste. If that's too much effort for you, you can of course simply try it with your daily chores: consciously brushing your teeth, washing, getting dressed, later pouring and drinking your coffee, and so on.
It's about staying fully focused on the activity at hand and not letting your mind wander; not putting on your shoes and already having one foot out the door; not answering an email while mentally compiling the materials for the next meeting; not practicing on the yoga mat while already thinking about your outfit for the party.
Interestingly, this Far Eastern art is as simple as it is difficult. We can't possibly think more than one thought, even if there's only a millisecond's difference between this and that; and we can only perform one action at a time: It's not feasible to dress the baby and tie the adult's shoes; stir the pot and fill the kettle; talk to a colleague and respond to the boss—it's always one thing at a time, even if we can work and react incredibly quickly. Observe yourself and convince yourself of the truth of this statement.
In this respect, any attempt to do many things simultaneously is doomed to failure. Isn't it much better, then, to tackle one task at a time and remain fully focused? The quality of the individual results is clearly improved this way – and this is another reason to avoid the often hectic task of multiple tasks. Moreover, more rest is certainly beneficial to your health.
Yoga teaches the way
Yoga exercises show us how it's done: We can only perform one at a time, and to achieve success, we need to work with great precision. We concentrate entirely on what's happening: on the position of our pelvis, feet, or back, on head posture, breathing, and balance. Relaxing moments like letting go of our thoughts or the dead man's pose also lead us to the moment where nothing else is important; there is only this moment, this intention, this exercise. The rest of the world is blocked out. We can act this way in everyday life, too: driving with concentration, making sandwiches, or concentrating on a conversation with someone. This enables active listening, for example.
Try performing everyday activities differently and experience the difference!
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