Notice What You Notice

For the past 3 weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at freaking six in the morning, I have been going to yoga.

It's one of my "support your housemate" attempts because she would appreciate accountability to going because working out is supposed to be good for you or something.

I am oddly chipper at 6am. Oh God forbid my alarm go off at 7:30, but shoot. Set it for 5:45am and I'll pop right up by myself 3 minutes before it goes off. Who am I?

Periodically throughout each session, our instructor tells us to "notice what you notice".

Yoga instructors can get a little...up in the clouds. ha. So the first time I heard her say that, I thought she was a little on the looney side. I mean, what does that even mean?

I get it now. She makes a good point. It's all about perception. My experience is absolutely not the same as what my housemate is experiencing. My thoughts, my shaking muscles, my breath is all set to a different level.

Additionally, we could even be having the exact same experience and be noticing different things, thus the point to actively notice what we are noticing.

She--as she explained to me in the car this morning--notices what her body does in comparison to other people and to how she knows she used to be able to facilitate movement.

I notice my hands. Unless I've been directed to pay attention to something else, I am generally focused on how my hands will handle (sorry...pun) the different poses because I've got pathetically thin wrists, and each new move requires that I am very conscious of how I distribute weight to take care of them.

Sometimes, what we should be noticing isn't body-related at all. Notice thoughts. What goes through the mind during yoga. For some, I'm sure it's nothing, it being 6am and all.
For others, it's a fight against their body demons.
For me? It's a lot of different things. I think about the people I'm with, wonder how they fill their other hours, think about whatever music I heard that morning getting ready, question what I need to do during the day, maybe pray for people on my mind.

It's not restricted to yoga, though.
Notice what you notice in the daily life. You might be surprised at what you find.