Getting Out of Your Own Way

1. Society tells our children that they are only candidates for human life. If you do not play by the "world's rules," you are basically a waste and will have no future. Our society demands that you have a future!

2. Society's preparation for life is the school system of course and getting ready for the next stage in life. For example, kindergarden prepares you for first grade and high school prepares you for college which as people say, is the only way you can be successful in life. Society makes it seem like without education, you have nothing.

3. When one arrives, Watts claims that he or she often feels cheated because you've been trained to get out in the real world just to be in the same predicament you were in while you were in school and college. It's like you're constantly looking for the perfect future. Some graduate college and can't even find jobs, some people have competitive jobs like law for instance and have to compete with others to get a job which can be very hard. Life does not get easier once you're done with school, it just gets harder and harder. 

4. The final goal of our society is retirement, where you can finally spend your hard earned money on whatever you want, not have to worry about going to work everyday, and just live it up. But he also mentions that by then you will be very old with no energy so it defeats the purpose anyway. 

5. I always stress to my friends not to live for the future. They're always worrying about who they will marry or how much money they're going to making etc. Also, there are many people in college that only major in biology, law, business, etc. just for the money. The problem with living for the future is that you're so busy making plans that you're not having fun in the present or living life how you want to. Right now, I am enjoying my four years in college being a theatre major. I am not concerned about how much money I will be making once I graduate, I am doing what I love and what I am passionate about. 

1. The chinese word for nature is ziran and it means, "that happens of itself." 

2. You stop the spontaneous flowering of nature when you control it and it is told to continue to do so.

3. We as human beings are the fabric and structure of existence itself.

4. The secret of life is being happy with the present and just enjoying every moment of your life. Be thankful that you are still living.

1. Dr. Brewer's experience of flow was when he was riding his bike down a steep trail.

2. We get caught up thinking 50 percent of the time.

3. A wandering mind is an unhappy mind.

4. During meditation the autopilot parts of the brain quiet down and it allows you to relax.

5. In nine minutes, the test subject learned the difference between feeling the moment and getting in his own way.

Reflection: I realized that during our yoga practice, I am too worried about how painful it is or how I'm not flexible compared to my peers. I have so much running through my mind, that I am not experiencing yoga. Instead, I am worried about all these things and also about whats going on in my life. That completely defeats the purpose of even doing yoga. I need to learn how to be more relaxed and just let my body go. While playing killer ball, I realized that you HAVE to be in the present to play the game. If not, you are bound to get hit right in the face from not paying attention lol. I must say, I had so much fun playing killer ball, I was completely in the moment and threw all my worries out the window. All i was worried about was catching the ball and getting that person who was in the circle out! Performing wise, I am always in the moment trying to perform to the best of my ability. I am not thinking about anything else, not even during rehearsals. These videos were really great and taught me not to worry about the future and just live for the moment.