Yoga: Learning to Live in the Moment

I am going to mention this big bike ride for one more post...then I will move on :)

Learning to live in the moment is easier said than done!

I attempted to practice this philosophy while I was in San Francisco two weeks ago. You see, I decided to face a fear. I physically put myself in charge of getting across The Golden Gate Bridge, on a bike! Driving across would have been easier and walking across would have been harder. Like I said in the last post, right when I decided to do this I knew it was something I would be fearful of which in turn made me more vulnerable to anxiety.

Guess what? This is not living in the moment. I will admit I "let it go" much easier than I did as a younger adult. I only looked up the length of the bike ride versus the actual length of time on the bridge once before I left for vacation.  Other than that I said to myself "This is something I am going to do regardless of my fears."

This experience is actually similar to a tough yoga pose...chances are huge the worst case scenario is not liking that current moment in time but I would have to breath and face the discomfort. In fact, being away from home, traveling and navigating a large city is one huge lesson about living in the moment and being present. During this trip there were other moments I wanted to be present for: these moments included watching and interacting with an infant child that I love and care for, to catching flights on time, seeing new sites and trying different types of food with people I enjoy being around. I really didn't have time to create anxiety about something that was going to occur the last day of the trip.  Never once did anxiety occur about leaving an old t-shirt in a hotel room, or leaving my iPod charger in the airport/plane or the bus of the 5 hour tour I went on breaking down.  But these things still occurred. Good and bad things occur each moment that we are on this earth.  It is our job to experience each of these things moment to moment.