Pose details and paying attention

As many of you know, I try to provide lots of information in my classes about how to 'set-up' a yoga posture or pose. This is not because I am trying to get everyone into some version of perfection, but rather, an attempt to keep everyone safe and free from injury. As rushed and distracted as we sometimes can be in this life, slowing down and really considering how we want to come into a pose and how we will get out of or release a pose can help us be more aware, more mindful and safer in the process.

Yoga doesn't really do us much good if we are not paying attention and end up hurting ourselves in class. Being distracted and attempting to multi-task outside of yoga class usually doesn't work well either. We end up misunderstanding other people, we forget things, and we don't do quality work when we are trying to do more than one thing at a time. So once again, we can practice important life lessons every time we are on our yoga mats. Lessons like learning to slow down, to think things through, to trust your body and LISTEN to it. We learn that we get more out of each day when we are  deliberate and mindful instead of rushing and and trying to speed through life. If we start really paying attention, we will probably find that we listen more effectively. Suddenly we can discern what is truly important over what is actually pretty trivial. We can approach each day feeling more relaxed and at peace as it dawns on us that there is plenty of time to do things well.