Body over mind, part the second: yoga.

In a different sort of way I'm coming to find ... approach? ... realize? a similar kind of letting-the-mind-idle while the body does its thing with yoga.

I'd be tempted to say that yoga is more introspective and less interactive than playing music with a group, but actually, I'm not sure that's quite right. Because doing practice at home is one thing, and it's all good. But there is a special kind of vibe that comes from practicing yoga with a group that I enjoy a lot, so that as with practicing guitar, I'm more motivated and inspired to pursue it alone at home because of how much I appreciate practicing with others. It like since I wish to make that group practice as fine as possible, then >I< want to be at the best I can at that time, and to make that happen I need to practice more at home. And as group practice rocks, the more I'm inspired to practice on my own. And so on.

But the connection with body over mind? Well, as my good friend Tenley put it so well the other evening, yoga is like meditating with the body. And working with that idea, the more I manage to get my hyperactive self-conscious mind to pipe down - and stop thinking about what we're going to cook for dinner, or whether I should have done X instead of Y earlier, or whether I've got my alignment in triangle or whatever right, or fret in anticipation of a a hip-opener pose that I just know I'm gonna blow - well, then the body just does whatever it's able to do for that time and all the other awesome benefits of yoga can come through. I think that's why I glommed on so quickly to the warm-room yoga class I take sometimes in the Castro. It's not 100+ (or whatever) degrees like with Bikram, but it is definitely warm enough to break a considerable sweat. And that difference in felt experience seems to work for me, somehow, to really shake me out of worrying about thinking about dinner or being less than confident about my level of flexibility and I'm just >there<.

As with the guitar, it doesn't always work. I don't know whether one can really make or force the mind to shut off; you know? It's like, to focus on shutting the mind down is itself an act of the kind of consciousness you're trying to avoid, and sometimes the monkey chatter in the brain just won't let up. I hope that with practice, that gets easier to do. But when I can achieve it even in my beginning phases, it too is really awesome.