At the yoga school I’ve been going to since the first day (literally) I arrived in Bondi seven years ago, the instructor Rick, at the end of each class, invites us to “take it away” with us.
We’ve slogged our way through our nervous tension, our annoyance with the heavy breathing dude next to us, our tight arses holding onto the resentment of the week….and 90 minutes later we finally arrive at a sweet spot. It’s so easy to jump up and ricochet onto the next activity (get home to husband, dash back to work). But this simple reminder – take it away with you – always gets me.
I find so much of my life compartmentalised. I run from one scheduled thing to the next. Rarely am I able to segue the goodness of the previous activity or moment into the next. I’ll share a really good chat with the guy at the dry-cleaners. Then dash off to the next appointment down the road. And I don’t take the loveliness of the chat, or the languidness of my morning walk, or the buzziness of the movie I just watched away with me. I drop it and dart. Next!
Taking good energy away with you entails two steps, in my mind:
1. Capture the moment as you leave. Like a photo. There! Snap! That was great. That felt really good.
2. Hold the energy. Kind of like carrying a tray of drinks. Steady and aware. For as long as you can. And glide onwards into the rest of your days
I’ve just done this with writing this post. There! Snap! I like it.
