New Now.

Pause.

Yesterday in class I was talking about honoring the process, our practice, and the whole of our lives by inserting a (much needed) PAUSE. We moved through a somewhat hatha-based practice, with several short savasanas peppered-in, a chance for the body and mind to breathe, relax, reflect. It's in these sacred spaces between the chaos that we can hit the reset button and come back to the miraculous present moment- free from worries of past or future. It's a moment to revel in all of the beautiful, good, hardwork that you have done...and an opportunity to rest in that.


"Yoga is something to do all the time, remember. "All the time" means now. The now is now, even right now. You are always in the New Now. You will ALWAYS BE in the New Now. Therefore, the only time or place you can ever do Yoga is in the New Now you are always and only in. That is why the homework has been to say the sentence, "What is the truth of this new Now, really?" and then be attentive to the New Now moment you will always be in. Another way of doing the same thing is, "Just exhale and relax."


Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a pause as:

Main Entry: 1pause
Pronunciation: \ˈpȯz\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin pausa, from Greek pausis, from pauein to stop
Date: 15th century
1 : a temporary stop 2 a : a break in a verse b : a brief suspension of the voice to indicate the limits and relations of sentences and their parts 3 : temporary inaction especially as caused by uncertainty : hesitation

I want to address this definition. I love the second part..."a brief suspension of the voice to indicate the limits and relations of sentences to their parts". A pause is the necessary action so that we can become more aware of the limits and relations of our thoughts, emotions and actions to our world. Does that make sense? And to agree as well as disagree with part three of the definition- I believe "uncertainty", though often viewed in a negative way, is actually the opposite! To be uncertain means to inquire, and this is why the pause is beautiful...taking a moment to inquire, "Is this my truth? Does this feel good? Is this honoring my path?"...

This morning I was researching some teachers that I plan to study with, one of which is Erich Shiffman. And so, I went onto his website and go figure...the talk that he gave the other day was about taking a pause! He breaks down the "New Now" so beautifully that I had to share...


"There are many different ways of talking about this. I call it the conscious pause, or the holy instant, or the sacred pause. Call it whatever you want. Just do it a lot. Do it a lot! Pause frequently… relax… and be conscious of the New Now you are currently in. When you do this, you will find yourself being in the New Now with less of your usual agenda. When there is less of your usual agenda you will have a clearer (truer) experience of the New Now you are in.

The Insight is "Wow, there is way more going on here than we are usually hip to." In fact, "Wow, we are in the middle of the Awesome Movement of Life. Wow! Everything you see is God-expressed, really. Really, really, really, really."

Be curious. Remember to do this. Do it a lot. Whenever it occurs to you, just exhale and relax and then pay attention to the New Now you are in."