Have you ever looked at the clock and it happened to be 11:11? Or thought about the coincidence of numbers? This year on 11/11 I discovered a podcast called 11:11. On the same day, my friend Alison found the companion magazine called 11:11. Then, while listening to
the host of the 11:11 podcast, I sat down to write this blog post and noticed it was 11:11 AM.
The amount of numerical coincidences got me thinking about patterns, and the way that being aware allows us to notice even more patterns. When we open our minds to notice patterns and what's going on in the world around us, we start to see the way ordinary objects seem to operate in tandem with the rest of the universe as part of an intelligently designed system. When we pay attention and allow our consciousness to notice these subtleties, it helps us to imagine that we are a part of that universe, that our lives are moving on the trajectory as part of a larger picture.
Paying attention to patterns in the external world helps us to acknowledge our internal emotional and physical habits. We can begin to ask ourselves if forcing that pose is really what our body wants to be doing, or if we keep wanting to rely on a friend for emotional support, even though the friend never seems to be available. Just by paying attention, we can evaluate what's working for us. The host of the podcast asks a question relevant not only to our yoga practice, but to the way we exist in the world: "Are you willing to experience yourself in a greater way right now?" By cultivating an awareness of our perspective in that moment, we can figure out if that's the point of view we actually want to have. Only by knowing where you are can you decide if you want to change.
