Elevators Have What To Do With Yoga?!

Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
 Marc Chernoff poses this questions in his article "50 questions that will free your mind".

Well???  Do you?!

I read this question and laughed out loud!  Who hasn't sat in front of an elevator pushing and pushing the "come get me now" button?!  It is rather stupid, now that I read the question as posed, but we do many things in life that don't make a lot of sense.

As I write this, the Christmas season is upon us and store windows are decorated just to show you all the fabulous things you need to have or need to buy for someone else to have.  Many people like to window shop, but what does that truly mean?   I suppose it's the act of gazing into a world you think you would like to covet.  Sonia Choquette would tell you that you can have everything you want in this world...by merely "shopping" within.  She writes, "When it comes to living an authentically guided and satisfying life, we're like window shoppers on Madison Avenue, gazing longingly at the incredible possibilities dangling before our eyes, yet not stepping in and claiming them as our own. (from her book tune in)

So, back to the elevator.  I got off on a holiday tangent because, in both scenarios, everything is hurried.  Why are we in such a hurry to get to the upper level or the lower level?  Why are we in such a hurry to get to the food court to inhale the quality food that will give us a stomachache later? Why are we in such a hurry to shop through our holiday list? Why are the stores in such a hurry to set up Christmas stuff in October?!

The funny thing is, why are we in such a hurry that we wait for an elevator rather than walk up or down a flight of steps?  One of my friends from high school used to ask me why people at the mall wait to get the closest parking space they can so they don't have to walk far when they plan to go into the mall and walk, anyway?

"If you die in an elevator, be sure to push the Up button."  Sam Levenson  

Remember the song, Feeling Groovy?  The lyrics lamented, "Slow down, you move too fast, you've got to make the moment last, Just kickin' down the cobble-stones, lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy..."

I think we don't look for fun anymore because we are too busy getting from point A to point B. Who has time to look?!

The next line, "Hello lamp-post, what cha knowing, I've come to watch your flowers growin'..."  We're lucky if we even notice the flowers let alone sit and watch them grow!

So, I am guessing in the next few weeks, not many of us will be excused from a trip to mall (unless you managed to do all your shopping online).  Or, maybe you are at an appointment or a hotel...wherever you are that you encounter an elevator!  The next time you are standing in front of an elevator and your finger makes contact with the coolness of the metal or plastic up or down button, refrain from pushing it twice!  Instead, think 'yoga off the mat, yoga off the mat' and b.r.e.a.t.h.e.   Slow... way... down. Focus on the present moment, not the future moment of getting where you think you need to go.

"When you wash your hands, when you make a cup of coffee, when you're waiting for the elevator - instead of indulging in thinking, these are all opportunities for being there as a still, alert presence."  Eckhart Tolle