GOING INSIDE, NOT LOSING CONTOL OF MY PRACTICE

This morning yoga was a personal challenge. Not the asanas, but the mental and spiritual aspect of yoga practice. I went to back-to-back classes, with a half-hour break between them. It was during the between-class break the day's challenge of yoga was presented. For the second class few of goddesses were in attendance, that is, the women who come to yoga self-contained, who respect the practice and the mat. Instead it was the chatterers. In the last fifteen minutes before class began the volume of the chatter increased minute to minute. I could not hear myself think. I could feel the annoyance rising in me, and so yoga began then. I literally placed my fingers into my ears so as to lower the volume. I closed my eyes. I laid on my back, very still. And, I went inside. I was not going to allow myself to let my annoyance ruin my practice. I was not going to let my mind ruin my practice by focusing on the external happenings in the room. I did not unplug my ears until the instructor began practice, and then I managed to hear only the instructor's instructions. I kept my eyes shut whenever having them open was not a necessity. Throughout class there was only one person in the class, me. And the there was only one sound, the whisper of the instructor's giving directions as to asanas. As if reading my mind, the instructor talked about the challenges of not giving control to others and, more significantly, not giving control to your mind. I had already committed myself to not losing control of my practice to the others and their chatter. More significantly, I had already made the decision to not losing control of my practice to my annoyance. There was some comfort in having those commitments articulated by the instructors. It was a great practice. And the day, a day in which I could have taken a wrong turn, turned out to be a very beautiful day.