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How often have you walked from one room in your house to another and then wondered why you were there? You had a reason, but now that you're there, you can't remember what it was. So you retrace your steps in the hope that your starting place will give you a clue as to why you left it. Sound familiar?

We lead busy lives; we have too many responsibilities. Pressed for time, our minds jump ahead to the next errand to be done and this "hurry" state prevents us from "living in the now," a state of being where we might actually accomplish more. For example, if we eat our breakfast mindfully, (that is, being aware of what of we are doing), we might also remember that we left the room to get our vitamins. Instead, we eat our meal while doing the dishes (thinking we are getting more done in the same amount of time), and then suddenly rush out of the room to get our vitamins but lose our train of thought and can't remember what we're looking for. Why? Because we don't remain focused.

Yoga can slow us down. It trains our mind to be conscious by drawing its attention to the execution of the various poses. The body becomes a tool that helps the mind focus on the present moment. Its chattering stops as we adjust our wrists under our shoulders in tabletop pose; as we press the weight to the outer side of our foot in warrior; as we stand on one leg, arms reaching high and eyes fixed on a spot to maintain our balance in tree; as we hinge from the hips, keeping a straight back rather than bending from the waist in forward bend. Paying attention to the details of a yoga posture forces us to concentrate. So it should be with all of life. We don't have to live in the mindless state of automatic pilot. We can choose to be fully present, conscious, engaged, living in the joy of the moment. It is called mindfulness.