Good morning!  Some of you know that I have been writing a book for a little over year now.  It’s now down to the last 15 or so pages and then the rough draft is complete.

The book has changed quite a bit since I began writing last July and the last three weeks, I’ve been field testing the technique that the book is based on.  What people are reporting back to me is phenomenal.

Yoga teachers are seeing how they can immediately incorporate this simple technique into the classes they’re teaching right now.  At the end of class last night, one woman came up to me to express her gratitude for what she had experienced in class.

It was her first time in my classes.  She told me that she teaches yoga for adolescent girls at a local residential treatment center.  She said, “I need to learn so much from you.”

Last weekend, I led another Meditation In Motion Retreat.  Most of the participants were yoga teachers.  One of them had this to say about his experience, “I’ve taught and practiced yoga for more than 10 years but I’ve never experienced the depth of yoga like I have this weekend.  I can use Stop, Focus and Feel in my classes tomorrow.”

So what is this technique?

Stop.  Focus.  Feel.

Stop the mind.

Focus on breath.

Feel the sensations.

It really isn’t anything new.  Anyone who has ever practiced Amrit Yoga would have found last night’s class exceptionally familiar.  The entire practice was about quieting (stopping) the mind by focusing on breath and then feeling any leftover sensations.

I’ll share the actual technique of Stop, Focus, Feel once I have the rough draft finished and have a good recording of the technique available.  So what’s the purpose of this post?

Heart Attack

On May 5, 2005 my father had a heart attack.  He had open heart surgery and the surgeon made seven bypasses on his heart.  He has since had multiple heart attacks and has had multiple procedures done on his heart including angioplasty and stents.  He had his first heart attack when he was 54.  He was walking 2 to 3 miles every day and hiking 7 to 10 miles on weekends.  His cholesterol was low.  His blood pressure was slightly elevated but still on the low end of pre-hypertension.  His BMI was a little high for his body size but most of that weight was muscle.

His surgeon told him that if he wasn’t in such good shape the heart attack would’ve killed him.

I’m six years younger than my father was when he had his heart attack.  There’s a bowl full of jelly on this body.  I don’t walk 2 to 3 miles a day.  I don’t hike 7 to 10 miles on weekends.  My blood pressure dances back-and-forth between the normal range and that same lower end of pre-hypertension.  I practice yoga every day but my focus is not weight loss nor other physical health effects.  Because my father had a heart attack before age 55, statistics say I’m at a much higher risk for heart attack.

All of this came clearly into mind on the way home from class last night.  Earlier in the day, a thought showed up: “I should use Stop, Focus and Feel before I eat anything.  I wonder what affect just doing that would have on what I weigh.”

Kautuka

So I did four things.

First, I made the decision to use Stop, Focus and Feel before I eat anything.

Second, I tied a new kautuka thread around my wrist.  Kautuka threads are used to symbolize binding a bond.  The thread is tied and serves as a constant reminder of what the bond is.  It’s like tying a string around your finger so you remember something but a kautuka is a bit more permanent.  The thread stays in place and is never removed until it naturally falls apart.

Third, I started using Stop, Focus and Feel last night.

Fourth, I wrote this post and will continue to track the effect of this simple technique here on Everyday Yoga.

What will the effects be?  Who knows?  We’ll just have to see.

Jai Bhagwan