The Whole Pitcher

If I don’t work out in the morning before I go to the work, there is a slim chance I will make it to the gym at all. I usually get home around 7:30 p.m. and I am pretty wiped. On Wednesday though, I promised myself I would go to a yoga class at 8 p.m.

I was pretty overwhelmed from my day. I had had some tech problems that were putting me up against my deadline, making me questions whether or not my news story would make it to air. When things like that happen I get pretty stressed out. I was hoping the yoga class would bring my adrenaline level back down.

Throughout the class I had a really hard time focusing. My mind was still going 100 miles per minute, jumping from thought to thought, basically doing everything a yogi would tell you not to do. I just couldn’t relax.

Then my yoga instructor said something. She said, “If you are in a desert why take a drop of water. Take the whole pitcher, if it’s there.” At first this might sound like a statement of greed. What she meant was don’t be afraid to refuel your body. Drink everything you need and fully engulf yourself in the experience.

I was not emerging myself in the yoga class. My mind was too consumed with other things. Have you ever done that? Maybe you were sitting in a meeting where all you could think about is your laundry list of things you needed to get done when the meeting was adjourned?

When this happens to me I like to take a step back and focus on the basics. In the situation in my yoga class that means concentrating on my breath. Instead of following the instructor’s flow from chaturanga to downward facing dog, I positioned myself in child’s pose. If you are unfamiliar, basically I put my head down with my hands stretched out while letting my bottom rest in between my bent legs.

I might have stayed in that position for 10 minutes… two different times, but it helped me to get back on track, to get me drinking the entire pitcher of water in the desert.