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Y2K; Illusion and the Breath - September 1999

If it's true that in one day each of us receives more sensory stimulation than a human being a hundred years ago received in a lifetime, how can we help ourselves out of the chaos and into the quiet? If peace of mind is what we are seeking, where can we go to find it?

It seems as though we are hurtling toward the close of this century and into the next millennium. Everywhere we go traffic is jammed, signals are busy, lines are crossed, messages confused. From faxtones to fast food, everything that barrages our auditory, optical and olfactory senses affirms that this dissolution is the cultural norm.

Being exhausted is normal, stressed is normal, having dysfunctional relationships with your spouse, your parents, your children is normal. Homicide is normal - it even has it's own syndicated TV show. How can we find clarity in a cultural swamp which perpetuates our own neurosis and disconnection from self and others?

Y2K is an illusion. Of course not in the sense that most of us will experience fallout from an international computer jam, if that's indeed what occurs. It's an illusion in the sense that Y2K is merely a concept. It will impact us in exactly the degree to which we are attached to the idea that we are dependent upon the high-tech world for survival. Somehow we've equated unplugging from "the net" with a metaphorical death.

When did we give up so much of our freedom? When did we become too busy to share a meal with our family, to read a book or take a walk with a friend? Everybody's running so fast, multi-tasking at rates to compete with the newest Pentium chip.

I have quite a few ex-multi-taskers as therapeutic students. Pain and fatigue now mandate that they discover the gift of "less is more." The shift from how many things can "I" juggle in an hour, to which one thing can "I" handle in a day: grocery shopping OR an hour of gardening is a journey into the redefinition of the self. It takes a whole new set of parameters to understand, if I am not the sum of all I do, then who am I?

Unlike us, nature understands its limits. The ocean is really only good at being an ocean. It doesn't try to be the sky, the trees, the sun or stars. And the truth is what we love most about the ocean is its oceanness. We can depend on its salty tonic washing us clean, tapping us back into some primitive rhythm within our own being - our heartbeat, our breath. When we sit and watch the ocean, endlessly rolling in and out, it reminds of us of the impermanence of our lives, the give and take of living on this beautiful, planet earth. It reconnects us to the eternal web of the Universe.

The breath is our own private ocean. It is our internal passport to that place of connection. Like the ocean, the rise and fall of the breath confirms the ever changing status of our being while simultaneously linking us to that which is eternal. The Teaching is that, the way of the breath is the way of the mind. As our breathing slows and becomes more stable, our mind too has an opportunity to clear and recalibrate.

Of all the work I do through yoga, without a doubt, teaching people how to use the breath to weld together the fragments of their being, is by far the most profound. Over and over again, I am struck by the healing effect of conscious breathing on the human mind and heart.

We need to become more like the ocean, channeling our physical and mental energy into just one thing at a time and doing it well. Unplug the phone during meals and family discussions. Drive in silence, noticing the landscape, the light in the sky, the curves in the road. Want what you have.

The less we grasp, the more we create quiet, focused space in our lives to breathe. As we come to understand the pulse of the breath, we recognize that peace is within us waiting to be accessed. Ultimately, it is our only defense against this fractured world of ours and perhaps, our only offering of hope.

Blessings and good wishes to you and your loved ones.

Namaste,

The Yoga Barn, Inc.
Robin Rothenberg, Certified Yoga Instructor
660 NW Gilman Blvd., Suite C6, Issaquah, WA  98027
Studios located in both Issaquah and Fall City
Phone: 425.427.0038  -  Fax: 425.427.0613
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