As I sat on the beach today, watching the waves flow in and out, I remembered saying to my husband about a week ago, right after I had taught a yoga class “wow, today’s class flowed so nicely.” When I uttered those words, what I meant at the time, is that the hour just went so smoothly from one section to another, from one thought to another, from one breath to the next.
Some days, no matter what kind of work you do, the day flows more naturally, more effortlessly. We’re all human so we naturally get distracted while working. When you’re trying to share and spread mindfulness, its easy to really beat yourself up when you yourself, are not in the moment. But it happens. Maintaining your focus is key if you want to do any job well.
Todays hyper-connected world makes it difficult to focus on anything without being distracted by incoming news, communications, whatever! As well, the entire idea of multi-tasking has robbed us of the luxury that is paying attention, since you cannot seriously focus on doing 5 things at the same time, at least not well. Many scientists are disputing the “myth” of multi-tasking and going back to encouraging all of us to do one thing at a time, uninterrupted.
Now back to flow – watching the waves do their thing so naturally, I realized that when you have flow, things move forward with ease, with a steady rhythm. I also thought of my job and how I feel when I’m sharing yoga with people. I think we’re more likely to remain focused on the here and now, less likely to have our mind wander, when we’re loving what we’re doing. When you have flow in your work, you and the work become one. Your progress forward comes naturally. I believe that experiencing flow, is kind of like searching for work-life balance. It’s elusive and you don’t just find it one day. It’s something you have to work towards. And just like finding balance, you have to create the conditions within you, and around you, to enable you to find flow.
This is where yoga and meditation come in. Meditation, finding stillness, delving inwards, helps us to find our true direction. Our purpose in this life. It grounds us in the now. Yoga reminds us that we must then have patience with this practice we call life. Stay in the moment. Breathe. Enjoy the journey and don’t become too attached to a specific outcome. Be flexible. Be kind and compassionate to ourselves. Give to others.
If you are one of those people that don’t have time for this stuff; that have too many things on your “to-do” list; odds are you could use some quiet mindful time. Even a few minutes daily will make a difference if done consistently. The clearer your mind when you begin your days work, the more likely your day is to flow ♥