Trying to find a moment of peace in this crazy world.

It was that very thought that had me laying out my eco yoga mat on the Millennium Bridge in London. It was a hot September day. Tourists, businessmen and kids alike pushed on past. I tentatively took up space in the middle of the walkway. I sat down in padmasana and immediately closed my eyes and senses to the world.

I was now with my breath.

It was only upon watching the video back that I realised the people who stopped and stared for a while, the child who asked why I was sleeping, the photograph that was taken, the bird that flew past, the woman I almost kicked and the person who stepped over me in shavasana.

Sure, I wanted to make a statement.

I wanted to find a place of my own amongst the crowds.

I wanted to reconnect with my breath.

I wanted people to stop and think but not to stop and stare. It wasn’t about attention but reaction. Any reaction, be it positive, negative, just getting people going about their rushing lives to feel something.

The speed of the time lapse and passers by, presents to me the way I feel in London. I find myself rushing even when I’m not late or really headed anywhere. I haven’t noticed that I’m rushing until I arrive with a light sweat on my upper lip. All of this dissipates when I do Yoga.

The world around me slows down and loses meaning. Yet at the same time it seems everything finally makes sense. That thing they said, the look they gave, the muffin I had at lunch, all loses out to the breath, my connection and how very alive I feel.

I am finally present.

A reminder for us to be present wherever we are. If we’re rushing across to work, strolling hand in hand with a loved one or chasing after a beloved child. We are alive, and how precious and gradual should our appreciation for that be!

Relephant Reads:

Meditation and the Busy-ness of Modern Living.

Author: Helen O’Shea

Editor: Emma Ruffin

Photo: Author’s Own