Living in the head

Long ago, one of my yoga instructors, during a warm up breathing session talked about how we are in our heads all the time, how we should use the yoga opportunity to get beyond the head. That thought has stuck with me to this day.

Thinking about it: I go through the day thinking about things to  do, thinking about how to do things. Thinking about people. Even work is very intellectual, with very little physical activity. For entertainment – TV, books, browsing etc are all ‘in the head as well’. Through the day I never notice how my posture is bad, how my shoulders are stiff or how my body is feeling. For the body to be noticed, for anything other than what goes on in the head to be noticed, the cause has to be quite extreme – pain or discomfort.

And then I go and exercise. If the exercise is strenuous,  I am no longer in my head. All of a sudden I notice how tight all my muscles are, how stiff, how much ‘pain’ and ‘agony’ and discomfort the exercise is causing. Oh, the head does try to butt in – trying to tell me to quit because ‘you can be doing more fun things like browsing the web or other stuff. Basically just stay with me dammit’.

But oh, that brief respite from living in the head, just acknowledging the body, the breath, the energy feels so good and so refreshing. Not to mention the boost ion creativity and energy and joy it provides.

So then, why do I still live in my head all the time?