Fourth Form of Madness

This week I started back at the gym. Where I work I am lucky enough to have access to a free gym which is awesome. This year I have gotten into the habit of working through lunch which is so unhealthy for your mind, body and soul. Once I got up after working for an extended period and could hardly straighten my knees. My body is quite supple, if it can be reduced to that stiffness in a few hours, how bad must sitting all day be for you!

Still I had to drag myself there, bad habits are hard to break. The best way I have found to change them is to do the opposite of what your comfort zone says to do. So off I trundled to the gym. I only use the gym to have a space to do yoga. The guys there are really cool, we struck a deal, I wear my gym shoes out onto their floor, and then I am allowed to remove them and do my yoga in my little corner. That way we are all happy and their health and safety rules retain their virtue.

A few years ago when I started to practice in gyms at lunch I didn’t think it was a good environment because of all the noise and “achievement orientated” mindset going on all around me. But I persisted week after week because I love yoga and that was the only place at lunch to practice. I started out, alone in my little space amongst the other gym goers, making my funny little shapes. As I persisted I noticed I was often joined by more and more fellow yogis who came out of their closets and claimed their space amongst the weight lifters and spin class regulars. It was nice to practice with people in a unstructured environment, all doing are own thing, quietly and in our own solitude amongst the gym chaos.

Then one day I realised, that when I practiced in the gym space, I no longer heard the loud blaring music, the loud crashing down of the weights, the continual shouting of encouragement from the personal trainers, all I heard was my breath and all I felt was the rise and fall of my stomach, ribs and chest. Quite out of the blue, in an atmosphere I would have least expected it, I discovered focus and the power of concentration. You got to love that about life. Sometimes we think we need quiet to cultivate quiet, but sometimes you need the opposite of what you think you need, just like when you are trying to break a bad habit. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of quiet, but I am also a fan of chaos. Both have their virtues.

So this week, as I completed my first sun salvation in my new little piece of gym space, I gave thanks for this quiet and solitude available to me in the mist of a big crowded, noisy city. Then I sunk back into the quietness that is my little piece of gym space and exhaled.