Catch-up on Reverb 10: Day 12

Day 12 prompt:

Body Integration.
This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?
(Author: Patrick Reynolds)

This prompt reminds me of yoga DVDs. I always think that I want to incorporate the practice of yoga into my life, but when I try a yoga video it usually annoys me. The poses are great, but the instructors' patter drive me up a wall. It is all about being aware of your breath, your knees, your toes. I don't particularly want to think about my body that much. I want to do the exercise and move on.

When people talk about "being present", that is something difficult for me to achieve. There have been times when I have been having a cool experience, but all I could do was think about how I have to remember it. For example, on our last cruise I stayed on the ship while everyone else went ashore at one of the ports. This was one day where nothing on my body ached and I wasn't overwhelmed by fatigue. I found a great spot on deck facing these great candy-colored row houses. The breeze off the ocean was a perfect temperature. I had a good book and a cup of coffee in front of me. Paradise, right? Yet instead of enjoying my book, I kept thinking, "This is perfect! I should be enjoying this! Remember every single moment of this because this is wonderful!" Once I become aware of the perfect synchronicity of mind, body, and experience, I ruin it by thinking about how much I should be appreciating it.