the yoga of being where you are { yogic existentialism }

- - Inspiration

pretty blue fish art

At precisely this moment last year, I was in glorious, delicious, vibrant, lusciously green Hong Kong. I didn’t expect to fall so deeply in love. I had been prepped with, “It’s crowded and dirty, so you probably won’t like it.” But I did. I fell in love upon arrival with the sights, sounds, the feel, and yes, even the scents (good and mal!). The Peak is like another world, high above the clamor and bustle of the city, it looms like an emerald forest. It was the first day’s adventure and hooked my heart immediately. I thought, “Good heavens. I’m in love. With Hong Kong. Already.” Staying at the brillant Conrad Hotel, having perfectly brewed Earl Grey tea every morning as part of a proper breakfast (elegant linens + fine china), only added to the romance.

When we came home to LA, I looked around at all the brown and felt like I’d been given a pen to paint a rainbow. I literally felt heartbroken, wrenched from my object of affection. I still feel these pangs and today, this week, being one year since my trip, they are particularly sharp.

I could spend hours pining away (as I am wont to do with HK) or I can choose to be present here, while fondly replaying my memories and looking forward to the next trip.

This is part of my yoga. I live in my head, generally in the future, though Hong Kong takes my gray cells backward in time.

My work right now is to Be Here. To be grateful that I live in a city so incredibly alive and connected. To be thankful I have a beautiful, safe home. To enjoy this moment, sitting in my favorite chair, elbows perched atop my white lacquer desk, writing, thinking, sharing, being.

Are you here in this moment? If so, how do you maintain your connectedness? If not, where are you and what can you do to be here now?

artwork credit: Dodge & Burn

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soothsayer. illusion slayer. intj/mastermind. writer + artist + strategist + innovator. california born, city of angels bred. gypset world traveler. la face with an oakland booty. queen of the jungle who doesn't lose sleep over the opinions of sheep.

6 Comments to the yoga of being where you are { yogic existentialism }

  1. I struggle deeply with this, mostly in a business sense. Mostly when friends and acquaintances thrive as I struggle.

    Add this to our book of commonality. I’ve been to Hong Kong, and I too loved it.

  2. Great blog. Never been to Hong Kong, but I get kind of excited just seeing it on TV or in National Geographic.

    To answer your question, for me a big part of Yoga is that it has taught me to see Hong Kong like wonder in the simplest of things all around me, for example, see:

    Honey I Shrunk the Kids
    http://bit.ly/9grIJj

    Doesn’t always work, but it’s wonderful when it does, and usually it happens, as you describe above, just by paying attention to the present moment and what’s really in front of us right now.

    Bob W.

  3. Are you here in this moment? At this very moment, yes, because I am typing a comment to you … but there is certainly a lot of other things going on in my mind

    I have the same problem you do – either pondering the past or dreaming/worrying about the future. The present moment can seem much less glamorous compared to the past & future, but it can be phenomenal, it can be glorious, we just have to make the conscious effort to see that.

  4. I felt the same way coming home from 3 1/2 months in Europe last year…and a month in India a couple years before that. I swear, culture shock is worse coming home than it is going away.

    I’m still trying to figure out how to be here, now. I’m constantly in my head as well! I find it’s easiest for me with music though. Either playing piano, or driving around in my car singing at the top of my lungs.

  5. My kids are good for this. They remind me to play more. The nature of my thinking and writing is that it is almost always in the past or the future. Bringing a sense of play and wonder, as Bob describes above, to everything I do helps me stay present for my life.

  6. how you feel about HK i feel about Paris. i miss it so much! i spent a HUGE amount of my summer being disconnected. the hubby and i were trying to make some big changes in our lives and they mostly all fell through, it caused so much frustration and i got really down on some things in my life. i literally pulled away from a lot of things in my present life, because i really expected big changes. when it didn’t work out, i was left feeling really distant. it took me awhile, but every day i journal one thing i’m grateful for in my present life to make sure i stay present and connected to my life instead of letting it pass me by.