you deserve attention

When I chat with my single girlfriends and we talk about what kind of partner we want in our lives, we all say, “somebody who is curious about me, listens attentively and receives me for who I am.” Easy to say, hard to find.

And hard to do.

If you’re hoping to find someone who will do that for you, that means you have to practice doing the same for that someone… right?

Listening to someone talk without getting distracted by your thoughts and/or surroundings takes focus. Especially in this day and age when our attention has become so fragmented due to our smartphones and all the distractions bombarded at us.

When I practice Yoga, especially Yin Yoga, I’m practicing listening to what my body has to tell me. Of course the body is not speaking to me in any audible language, it is speaking to me silently with sensations.

When you hold Yin poses in stillness for a long while, you have enough time to notice obvious and not-so-obvious sensations.

The one sensation I didn’t consciously notice until I started studying with my teacher Paul Grilley is compression. The Yoga asana practice is almost always associated with stretching the body. If you have difficulty with a pose, you might assume you are tight and not flexible enough.

There could be another reason. One part of your body might be hitting another. Bone hitting soft tissue, bone hitting bone, soft tissue hitting soft tissue… Maybe even your body hitting the floor.

So the next time you come into a Yoga pose, pay extra attention and listen carefully to your body speaking to you through sensations. Receive yourself, your body, the sensations, exactly as they are, and notice if you can distinguish stretch from compression. What is stopping you from going further and deeper into the pose? Remember as you practice, that if there is anybody in this world that deserves all your loving attention, it is YOU, and the one and only body that you have in this one life time.

I believe this practice is slooooooowly helping me get better at not only listening to my body, but listening attentively to the person in front of me when I am having a conversation.

Hopefully this not only motivates you to get your Yin Yoga practice going, but also to focus attentively when you talk with your loved ones, and maybe even draw that dream person into your life who will also pay attention to you!