- Life:
Yoga
I started practicing yoga while I worked at Microsoft and I haven't stopped. I've always been physically active, and extremely flexible, but injuries from a wilderness accident the day before my high school graduation began to catch up with me later in life. I was losing my range of motion and I took up yoga to help regain it. I'm not really into mysticism, but yoga has made a difference in more than my physical well being.
Most people think yoga is all about stretching. Many yoga instructors insist it's about deep breathing. For me it's a prerequisite to deep breathing. Yoga has taught me enhanced physical awareness and control via mind-body connections that I didn't know existed. So yoga trains my mind as it teaches me to breathe. But finding this release can be elusive. I suppose that's why they call it practice.
- Outcome
The mind-body connections I speak of seem to exist in a different state of consciousness that is difficult to access. They flicker into existence like light from a faulty bulb, and sometimes threaten to disappear completely, yet they can be strenghened and honed. It's difficult to maintain a strong connection, but the pursuit alone seems to lead to enhanced perception across a range of senses.
As I've become older and have practiced longer, I believe I've developed a kind of synesthesia from yoga practice that helps with design. Designers need to synthesize a wide range of disparate factors to achieve effective solutions for clients and users. Physical and mental stress can get in the way of that. Yoga practice allows a more balanced and flexible approach, no pun intended.