We vent to one another that the world has gotten too fast and too busy.  We complain that the “good old days” when life was slower and we were more connected are gone.

Feeling the world, as we’ve always known it changing rapidly can freak out even the most centered person.  Our solution is to run to yoga class for a glimpse of that peaceful empty feeling of being in the now.  Unfortunately, that class is only an hour out of the 24- hour experience of life.

Sometimes it feels as though everyone is in his or her own world without intimate connection.  People rush in late to yoga class or sit in the lobby texting vs. connecting.  We walk around town with our I-Pods and cell phones occupying our ears and attention and then wonder why we feel so disconnected from one another and out of the moment.

The world is more populated and of course is moving faster these days.  We travel faster, have information at our fingertips in a second, and are able to express our thoughts immediately via text, email or phone call.

Yet we still feel disconnected from others, as well as the elusive “moment”.

I believe it’s really our responsibility to create those yoga class moments in our own world.  When I start to complain that life is moving too fast, it’s a sign to me that I’ve disconnected.  No matter how busy life can feel, I myself can create an “in the now moment” on a daily basis, in my heart.

Maybe the key to creating a slower world around us is by actually connecting with the people we encounter on a personal level, day by day.  Actually making eye contact and speaking with the bank teller, the barista, or the check out people at the grocery store creates an “in the now moment connection”.  Life suddenly slows down.

Every time we connect in with someone vs. keeping ourselves on fast- forward, we create an “in the now moment”.

I feel as though I’m living in the moment when I walk into the bank and my teller addresses me by name, asks about my dog and mentions that his dad found a new job.  When I spend 2 extra minutes to complement the check out girl’s earrings at the grocery store, I walk out feeling connected and warm inside.

It’s easy to point a finger at the world around us and complain that it’s gotten too big and too busy.  Taking a few moments to connect with the people we encounter daily but don’t really know creates a larger web of intimacy; the kind our grandparents spoke of when they mentioned community and neighbors helping neighbors.  Suddenly we find ourselves living in the much slower world of the “now moment”.

So, whether my ipod is on loud, or I’m finishing a text when I walk in to order my morning coffee, I take a moment to disconnect from my inner world and connect with my outer world.

I make small talk with the now familiar face behind the counter and know that while it may be small talk, in the bigger scheme of things, there is nothing small about it.

xo

Images courtesy of  freedigitalphotos.net.