Day 15: Why Hurry?

Live in the Orange Zone - Day 15

30 Days of Self Study, Meditation and Reflection

Day 15, living in the orange zone. 

On my many trips to India, there was one in particular where I got a great teaching from my yoga teacher Pattabhi Jois, just through a simple interaction that happened during class one day. 

It was a full class, it was packed and our mats were next to each other. Pattabhi Jois was calling out the class, the way he normally does, those that do yoga, he would say “inhale”, we all raise our arms, and “exhale”, we all bend forward. We're going through these sun salutes. 

One person was always just a little bit ahead. If he's saying inhale your arms up, she's already bending forward. If he's saying inhale into up dog, she's always bending into down dog. One of the ways my teacher would correct someone in class, he would just simply say, “Hey.” I'll look around like, who's, who's in trouble? Right? 

This went on a couple of times and she kept being ahead of the class and at one point he just stopped teaching. Everyone was dead silent. We'd never had this happen for you. He just stopped teaching. We all stopped practicing. At the time he was older, he was in his nineties. He shuffled up to the front of the room and he got right up, right next to this lady, like right in her face, and he said to her two words, I will never forget. He said, “Why hurry?” 

I've taken that teaching from that yoga practice years ago in India and applied it to my life. 

I love John Kabat-Zinn’s book Wherever You Go, There You Are. I sometimes think how I'm in such a hurry to get to the next place, only to find myself there and in a hurry to get to the next place. Sometimes it's a place or it's just a mindset. Rather than just sitting, being content and enjoying what's around me at this moment in my life, I'm constantly thinking of what do I have to accomplish next? What am I in lack of that I need to try to do? 

I especially think about our 30 day living in the orange zone. It's been such a great time to pause and have time for reflection and silence and listening. And in that listening perhaps to really value this time in our life where we were forced to slow down. Or we chose within this time to slow down a little bit and evaluate what is precious to us, what we value. In that, making decisions on how we spend our energy of time. Also to how we just slow it all down a bit, and take in what is available to us in this moment, and really enjoy that fully in that slowing down. 

I invite you to ask yourself the question throughout the moments of your day. If you find yourself running around here or running around here, is to simply say, “Why hurry?” 

Wherever you go, there you are.

Day 15 Inspiration
Today's inspiration comes from unknown
Reflecting on the small but profound inspiring wonders of the Universe.

Inspiration is everywhere. If you are ready to appreciate it, an ant can be one of the wonders of the universe.

Click the links below to find out more:
The Orange Zone - A 30 Day Practice - YouTube Playlist

​Daily Inspirational Quotes for 30 Day Meditation

Blog Post: What is the Orange Zone?