The virtual trainer welcomes me to another workout with him. I like the light blue Wii trainer shirt he wears. What I don't like is having to keep within the yellow square as he walks me through both yoga and strength moves.
One exercise requires that I move to one position and back to start. Something so easy usually. But I'm supposed to hold the position for 50 seconds and then go back to my start position. Hold it? 5 seconds - okay. 10 seconds - this isn't so bad. 30 seconds - are you kidding me? 40 seconds - just hold it! Hold it! 45 seconds - Bobble City! Yes! I know my leg is shaky. You don't have to tell me. 50 seconds - yay! I can stop now.
After a day I'm really sore. But I didn't really do anything that made me sweat. Of course, my tree pose sucks. How do you get your foot to stay there without slipping?
One thing I'm learning is that stillness is 1.) really hard and 2.) an active thing. Who knew? You have to actively work on being still? Yes. The little red dot squiggles all over the screen showing me how much I'm actually shifting and swaying.
You know doing an exercise is easy fast. Doing it slow and holding it there is hard. But that actually applies to life doesn't it? You can get somewhere--achieve something quickly with relative ease as long as you know where you're going and what it looks and feels like.
But holding a position - at your goal - that's the hard part. Whether it's a marriage or success or a grant/scholarship or a goal weight. That's what makes the mind and body quake and where the effort comes in. That's where distractions can mean collapse or at least a major bobble if you're not careful. And you're more likely to be able to hold the goal, or whatever in life it is, if you got there slowly.
Momentum carries us places. Entropy too. But to actively be still...
As I sit on the Wii fit board and look at the screen the candle quivers every time focus is lost and I shift. The goal is to stay absolutely still. If you move the candle flame goes out. My first time I didn't last 13 seconds. You'd think just sitting there it would be easy to not move. But we do. In little increments. All the time.
As I sit an old Bible story runs through my mind. You know, the whole thing about how there was a huge and powerful wind and God was not in the wind and then came an earthquake and God was not in the earthquake, and then there's a fire and God's not in the fire. But then, there is stillness and quiet. And there God is.
The modern world is big on moving and moving fast. Maybe with the price of gas we'll learn more about being still. There must be something to that. After all, if it's been encouraged for thousands of years throughout various religious and cultural backgrounds; how can it be totally wrong?
"KA!" yells the voice. Out the flame goes. Darn it! *sigh* Still learning.
