My Sixties Project

This morning before going to my yoga practice, I made sure to do my course on Buddhist studies. Today’s topic was the Five Hinderances which can waylay you from going deeper into your yogic practices. They are: attachment (sensory desire), ill will (not being nice to others and yourself), slothfulness (laziness and avoidance), restlessness (lack of concentration, not being able to relax and focus) and doubt. I had intended to use these as the intention to guide my practice.

The reason I felt these were timely is where I think I am at in my progress. I really am not sure how to progress through some obstacles, and am not sure I even want to. Seriously, I am no twenty something with all the energy in the world. That being said, I felt the need to somehow incorporate them all to temper my practice this morning. Example – I was a little tired and sore from yesterday, so I felt it best that I just take everything easy, pay close attention to how my body was feeling, not get caught up in what my neighbor was doing, and not doubt that eventually my body and mind would take me where I needed to be. Sounded like a really good plan.

Then my teacher comes in and shares a dream he had about “timeline”. I really liked what he had to say, although I think he was saying to push ourselves a little harder to get where we needed to be along our own personal timeline. I had already decided to back off, not push harder. So there was a dilemma, do I follow my intention to move slowly and not push, or do I try to push myself harder to get where I maybe or maybe not need to get.

What I realized was my timeline required me to pay close attention to everything in the flow and how it fit me. I know I made progress by doing just that and listening to my inner self, both my mind and my body. This was the one thing I needed to move me down the path of my personal timeline and follow my dharma. My practice was slow, intense, motivated and I left feeling satisfied. I was able to stay inside myself and not “do” just for the sake of “doing”. A little tempered learning is sometimes what we require to overcome the things that hinder us.