52 To Do

One of the times I feel least yoga-like is when I have to fly somewhere. It’s easy to stay calm and focused in a nice, warm studio, but an airport is another story. As I flew out of the Denver airport to LAX today I was really trying to think about yoga. I was trying to imagine how the yogis handle going through security and the jostling crowds. I was trying to adopt that mentality of “so be it”. It was pretty hard to do. There were a lot of distractions that took my mind away.

Because of winter weather from the East Coast my flight was delayed so I was late getting into LA. This wasn’t so bad because my meetings aren’t until tomorrow. No big deal.

I found myself overhearing dozens of loud cell phone conversations around me. Why do so many people talk so loudly as though no one is around them? Why can’t I tune out their conversations? I felt badly for the person getting chewed out on the other line.

It got a little harder as I got on the plane. A parent behind me didn’t seem to mind their 5 year old constantly kicking the back of my seat as much as I did. Hard to keep a calm mind when your head keeps jerking forward.

My thoughts drifted further…I couldn’t stop wondering if I would be waking up tomorrow with the some of the colds I could hear people coughing up around me. I don’t really want to say “so be it” to that. I’d rather say “can you please cover your mouth?”

I finally found my “yoga place” looking out the window and letting all the voices around me drown out in the hum of the engine, but it took a lot of effort.

How do the yogis do it?

I’m off to Maha Yoga in Brentwood with my good friend Amy to do some “Happy Yoga”.