Today I continued my yoga journey through Atlanta with the 8:15am level 2 Anusara yoga class at Springs Yoga. The studio’s website states that it is located on 4920 Rowell, “around the corner from TCBY.” A yoga studio next door to a frozen yogurt store? Now that is my kind of a studio.
Springs Yoga is a very simple studio. There are no meditating Buddha statues or burning incense to be found. The only piece of yoga paraphernalia in the yoga room was a small plant and a statue of the Hindu deity, Shiva. Shiva represents supreme consciousness in the Anusara philosophy.
As we moved through the poses, the teacher urged us to “find our breath.” This made me giggle at first. Had I lost my breath? I was still alive so obviously I was still breathing. A few minutes later he repeated, “find your breath,” and that is when I realized I was not being conscious of my breathing. The body is capable of unconsciously inhaling and exhaling, but we also have the ability to take control of our breath and use it to relax our body and mind.
As I left the studio I was immersed into a sweltering heat that is May in Atlanta. I needed something to cool me off. Since it was still the morning, frozen yogurt seemed inappropriate (and TCBY was not open. Yes, I admit it, I checked). So, I went to get an iced coffee at the Posh Café located a few stores down. As I sipped my drink it came to me that life is like the breath. You can live unconsciously, just going through the motions of each day, or you can awaken to each experience and find your life.
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