Savasana and the Riding Mower

I watched as the tall man walked across Rebecca's lovely beige, jute yoga mat with his big black work boots. Step, step, step. Rebecca had just finished instructing a class for teachers on their wellness day at a local high school and she had moved forward to talk to some of the teachers after class. The man – a staffer at the high school - entered the gym, as he continued to do off an on during the six classes taught that day, and walked through the mats and ON her mat, en route across the gym. There seemed to be no awareness on his part that he might consider walking AROUND the mats to get to his destination.

During a class there I taught later than day a delivery man appeared from another entrance, propped open a large door to the outside, and pulled a cartload of supplies back a forth a few times. In addition to the sound of the rolling cart with squeaky wheels, the gym got colder and colder from the open door.

Have you ever taken a yoga class in a less than sterling setting where people enter like bulls in china shops? At a chair yoga class in a senior center recently with six “mature” adults laying on the floor in Savasana, two older women entered the room to view a display of donated canned goods that had been stacked in the corner in the shape of a rocket. One asked loudly “Is everybody in here dead? Should we call 911?” The women proceeded to climb over the students on their way to the display, which they observed with more loud comments, before exiting the room. This really was so over the top that the class turned into laughter yoga. One said the incident kept her chuckling most of the week. Can you guess the theme for that day's class? Awareness, but of course.

This same group of students has had their focus challenged on other occasions as well. During the summer we practice outside in a pavilion surrounded by grass. A young man arrives – almost without fail – around Savasana on a riding mower. Now that's an interesting Savasana!

In a new book called Yoga in America, a compilation of essays by yoga teachers from around the country, teacher Richard Wall pens and article titled Boiler Room Yoga. He reflects on what it's like to teach to the accompaniment of droning treadmills, in the flight path of low flying aircraft, on questionable carpet and uneven floors. “I often wonder about that perfect studio,” he says. “Yet, I notice something about Boiler Room Yoga. My students must truly learn to acknowledge but not react to distractions. They perform postures under far from perfect conditions, learning to practice whenever and wherever...not waiting for the perfect moment in time. After a while, most learn to relax and meditate, even though there is sound and fury just around the corner.” (pg. 17, Yoga in America)

The amazing thing last week in that school gymnasium was the teachers practicing yoga were not distracted in the least. They were settled into their practice in a powerful way. I think teachers are pretty used to dealing with distractions. They were not going to miss a minute of centering and relaxation. After all, the kids would be back with a litany of new distractions the very next day. “Your life is the sum of what you focus on,” says Winifred Gallagher in Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life. So let those distractions roll over you like so much cascading water and focus on the now of the experience. You might be surprised how much you enjoy the ride.

                                                                                                -Anne Ondrey