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Step off the wheel

By Viki Distin

We've all been there. We've all witnessed friends who have been there. Living our lives like a hamster on a wheel. We can't seem to stop and take a breath. Yoga is such a powerful tool for teaching us how to slow down, how to enjoy the simple pleasures, how to breathe.

As I was talking this month with Jen Pacic, featured in our Yogi Spotlight, I was reminded how a simple act of bringing a friend to yoga can have such drastic outcome. Although Jen was always interested in the practice, it took having her friend actually pick her up and bring her to a class to get her practice started. After her first class Jen realized she would never be the same.

A few months ago, one of our teachers, Melissa Gaudette sent me a lovely, true story about the importance of slowing down to really soak in all of life's goodness. Below is the story of a sociological experiement that exemplifys what can happen when we live our lives at such a hurried pace. Lucky for Jen, she had a friend who cared enough to invite her off her hamster wheel and onto a new and more wakeful path.

This month please consider your friends and note if there is someone who - like Jen - needs a little encouragement to begin a yoga practice. This simple act could change your friend's life.

Violinist at the Washington Metro station

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that hundreds of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip; a woman threw a buck in his case and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother pushed him along, but the child stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but they continued to walk at their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before he played in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a Boston theater where the price of admission was about $100 a seat.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito at a Metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. Among many other things, the experiment questioned: In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

But maybe the question we should be asking ourselves is this: If we don't have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?