Distraction- Happens to the Best of Us

This morning,
at the onset of yoga practice,
Brooke, my new yoga coach
prompted us to set an intention
for our practice today.
This is totally common,
and probably one of the main reasons
I love Yoga,
but today touched me as she said,
"Set an intention that is so personal,
that it will carry you not only through your time
on the mat,
but it will carry you through
whatever is cluttering your soul at this time"

Thanks Brooke,
I needed that,
because my heart, might, mind and soul
feels a little cluttered right now!

While moving through a particularly difficult
Warrior Sequence about midway through our time,
Brooke stopped us
mid-Warrior 2...


She said, "Focus on your thoughts at this exact moment.
Are they thoughts that flow with your original intention?
Or have you lost focus, gotten distracted
or forgotten to breathe?
It's OK, it happens to each of us at some point.
Something catches our attention,
or distracts or breath
or stands in our way-
but bring your intention back!
And bring a smile to your face,
we only have five more intakes of breath
and this difficult portion will be complete"

Because I am so emotional right now,
tears came to my eyes-
because during that sequence
I had lost my focus,
but you know what,
I've lost a lot of focus right now-

This is a difficult sequence I am living out
on my full time life "mat"
Life is good,
and I can feel growth in my heart,
but I confess that I have to bring myself
back to center a lot right now,
and make a concentrated effort to
put a smile on my face,
open my heart and
purposely acknowledge and focus on
all that is right.

Does that happen to you??
I hate to say I hope so,
but it makes me feel a bit better
knowing that sometimes you lose focus too.

Set an intention when you wake up in the morning
and no matter how many dishes are in the sink,
or kids are late for school,
or pounds you gained from the 5 brownies you ate last night
(okay, I might be the only one that does that)
Keep your whole mind focused on THAT intention!
Maybe at the end of the day,
you'll be brought to tears
over the beauty you saw all day :)

Namaste