Yogic Distraction?

When I found yoga, before I dipped my toes in it's history and intentions, I thought it was intended as a process of distraction. Of brilliantly executed distraction.

It seemed simple: you stick yourself on a mat in a room with lots of people, and you hand over all sense of responsibility to this person in sweatpants at the front of the room. And then the guy or girl tells you to move up and down and sideways and awkward, and after a while you just get so damned exhausted negotiating lefts and rights and upside downs that you just kind of go along with it. And by the end of it, you've soft of let yourself and whatever-important-thing you were thinking about go. For a while, you experience hang out in a world where someone seemed to turn up the sound and brightness, and things seem pretty pleasant.

This might seem shallow. After all, isn't distraction the problem of our modern world? And in some strange paradoxical way, I think one needs to get distracted from distraction.


This is really easy when you are first starting yoga. This was my first yoga 'plateau' and it was overcome by heated yoga (the extra challenge awakened the present moment), and by teachers (e.g. Jessie Barr at Go) who loved to bring something extra and new into my practice. Then, it became "too easy", so I looked for more challenging poses (finding them in hip openers, longer holds, inversions, arm balances and any proximity of one's knee to one's shoulder).

My second plateau was overcome with knowledge: I looked out for instructors that would give me a different way of seeing or experiencing a pose. I became addicted to books and articles that would unlock hidden secrets for me. This unfortunately had an unpleasant side effect: I would come to my mat to practice pre-intended ways of beings- e.g., now I am sequencing for A, now I am opening my hips by doing B, now I follow this ashtanga sequence.

Now I am in a third plateau. I dont' see the point of yoga as "distraction" any more. By far. But I think there is something charming and wise in distraction.

Here's what I'm trying out that is helpful. Any advice would be surely appreciated.

1. Inversions. I start each morning off with a 1-5 minute headstand.
2. Repetition. What I am least likely to do on my own if I don't make the conscious effort.
3. Not sequencing for my own practice. Trying to tune into my own body to decide what to do, not having a designed mindset for what my yoga practice is going to look like.
4. Inversions. Jumping up into a handstand or forearm stand really does the trick.
5. Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. Standing big toe pose. Does the trick.
6. Utthita Parsvakonasa to viparita virabhadrasana. Side angle to reverse warrior.
7. Tittibahasana.

I'm going to try "rock star" (camatkarasana) and see that effect.