A clouded mind is a clouded future.

As I laid in shavasana pose at Yoga to the People tonight I tried hard to clear away all of my thoughts. A Yogi will tell you this is the hardest pose.

Generally I think people rotate through the same handful of thoughts a day. And if you are what you think then I'm: #1 pay off my school loans #2 chocolate chip cookie #3 I want a dishwasher #4 Go for big money or the dream? #5 I will be 120 lbs!

As all women can agree, number two and number five are in a constant battle... However, the most reoccurring thought I have is hands down number four: do I go for a job that will pay well and hope to get out by six to do hobbies I love, OR, do I live the "high risk = high reward" lifestyle and go for a dream?

(insert late night bar debates and mass confusion = %&$^#%$#%$#)

Okay, back to shavasana. My favorite part of exercising is the moment when you can't think of anything else on God's green Earth (!) besides the pain from pushing your muscles an inch further, a step higher, a second longer. All is lost, and for a split second numbers one through five vanish.

But like all kids born in the early eighties, I suffer from stream of consciousness. Therefore, I'm not positive I will ever be able to clear my mind longer than that brief second. Which is why I love listening to quotes during shavasana. Tonight's quote was The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

Here is an excerpt of Oriah's poem:

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

...
With that, I'm finished debating number four.