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Testimonial

Aimless…. Direction

“The mind is like water…when it is turbulent, it is difficult to see. When it is calm, everything becomes clear.” If you have ever taken a Yoga class with Helen Rita, this is the mantra that she imparts at the beginning of each class. It sets the mood and the tone for the next hour along with temple bells and meditative music. The purpose of Yoga practice is to connect ourselves to and develop awareness of our inner selves. Did you ever wonder what exactly that means? Can one honestly distinguish between an inner self and an outer self? Yoga and similar mind/body practices asks of us to develop an acute awareness of each breath we take and to be mindful of how this awareness makes us feel. It is sort of like ‘stop and smell the roses’ for our spirits. This task is the basis of meditation and is used by many mental health practitioners to help develop relaxation techniques for the most anxious of patients. When I was a practicing therapist, I would try and guide patients through these techniques. Some people take to it right away, some not so much! Perhaps we can look at mindfulness or mind/body practice as an aimless task with direction. I titled this essay as such to emphasize the seeming dichotomy of this phrase. How can anything aimless have a direction? The customary definition of any task is something that is done with a beginning and an end, a linear progression from start to finish. Conventional exercise programs follow this type of regimen with reps and sets, benchmarks and goals. Even a hike up, down and around a mountain trail has a path with clearly posted signs indicating direction and distance. One can meander off a set trail but eventually the goal is to reach the end. Yoga practice and other mindful exercises are designed to connect one to an inner self. What exactly does that mean? Is there really a way to distinguish between an inner and an outer self? Can yoga practice and other mindfulness exercises lead one to discover an inner self? There are significant differences between these practices and traditional exercises. There is no start or finish time necessary. There is no prescribed path or order, even though the poses are well defined and vary in intensity and required flexibility. The goal is peacefulness, calm spirit and a renewed clarity of thought and feeling. Instead of a linear progression, this practice is experienced in a circular and sometimes even spiral manner as the awareness of our body’s curvature and our mind’s expanse grows and deepens. Guided imagery is another tool used to deepen one’s self awareness. With eyes closed, one is urged to imagine a serene location and to place oneself in that location in order to heighten relaxation and diminish anxiety. The mind becomes focused and clear and one can even experience a sense of weightlessness and a child like ‘land of make believe’ that has a profound effect on the parasympathetic nervous system. Unlike aerobic exercise which is designed to speed up one’s heart rate and quickens the breath, guided imagery effectively lowers one’s heart rate and deepens the breath. It seems to me that I have still not clearly defined an inner self as opposed to an outer self. Perhaps it is because I don’t really think such distinctions are accurate or relevant. Rather, I like to think of mindfulness and the deepening of self awareness as a progressive journey in the pursuit of peace and calm. Deep is not necessarily a synonym for inner and progressive is not necessarily a synonym for linear. Both ‘deep’ and ‘progressive’ are words that can describe hypothetical notches on a scale of a continuous desire to pursue a peaceful place in our minds and for our bodies. It is a somewhat complicated and paradoxical pursuit if one is to view this as a circular continuum. Self awareness has no start or end point, but deepening sensibility surely has a path that is circular and dynamic. Mindfulness and meditation have different levels of practice, but the goal is not a stronger body and increased stamina. Finding a more peaceful personal presence and creating a calmer ‘self center’ can lead to a healthier and more generous life. Connection with self will inevitably lead to connection with others as one increases an awareness of one’s place in the world. This is another paradoxical image as the solitary meditative practice leads to a desire to connect to others. So, aimless direction begins to make more sense as one begins to see the clarity inherent in mindful practice. Waterville Valley is a perfect location for this as we are surrounded by the circular beauty of the mountains and our individual and collective positions in this natural surrounding become clearer. Helen Rita studies and has become proficient in mindfulness practice and she guides her classes through techniques that have been described in this essay. Her studio on the second story in Town Square is welcoming and equipped with everything needed for an hour of ‘aimless direction.’ She is devoted to her practice, but more importantly, she is devoted to the people who practice with her. Calmness and clarity would appear to be the antithesis of paradoxical images and ideas. However, on closer examination, we have shown that there is a coexistence not entirely obvious at first. The quest for a peaceful spirit certainly has a direction that is sometimes circular, sometimes repetitive, as simple as breathing and as complicated as holding a pose. Simplicity and complexity define us as human beings and will continue to ebb and flow between the uncomplicated and the multifaceted lives that we live.