I’m a thief.
And so are you.
How would you define stealing?
One of yoga’s many perks is to meet wonderful people. I don’t think I’ve ever met an asshole who practices yoga (yet).
One thing I love about the diversity of teachers. They all have a different way of starting the class: in silent meditation, in a restorative child’s pose, or in a dynamic Mountain pose. A specific start I really enjoy is quotes.
Last week, one of my teachers talked about stealing.
Stealing is taking something that has not been offered. Not only an object. Also a feeling. A thought. Time.
It clicked.
I have been stealing for years, nearly every single day. From myself. And from my loved ones.
During math classes, I would worry about my English exams.
During work, I would think about catching up with my friends.
During yoga classes, I would go through my to-do list and think of emails to be sent.
During calls with my parents, I would lose my focus, stop listening and check my Facebook feed mindlessly.
You get the idea.
Committing, and then escaping to commit to something else. That I’ll end up escaping as well. What’s left of the present moment? Not much.
The inconsistency appears even bigger when one knows how crazy it drives me when other people steal from me.
I get so annoyed when my parents are on the phone and start talking to other people around.
I can’t stand it when friends frenetically check their phone while spending time together.
So, here’s what she asked from us.
Today, don’t steal from yourself. You have committed to giving yourself a full hour. You purposefully came here to dedicate this time to nurture You.
Keeping that in mind, I had an amazing class. Did I lose focus for a few minutes? Most definitely. But being aware allowed me to bring my focus back to what I had committed to. Yoga. 60 minutes. You can stay here. Everything else will still be there when you get out.
And this holds true for anything else you choose to experience.
This is another way to describe what it means to be present. The reason I love it so much is that it’s very descriptive way.
It made me realized what I was taking away from myself and from my loved ones by not giving my undivided attention to what I chose to experience.
At the same time, being aware that I’m a thief myself forces me to be more empathetic when other people steal from me without realizing it.
Before you go…
If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy this one, this one and this one.
You can let me know by holding down 👏🏼 below so more can read it. You can also follow me and Success in Failure to be the first to see the upcoming stories.
