Midnight in Paris and yoga????

I recently went to see the Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris.  I’m not generally a Woody Allen fan but went anyway.  Quite a good movie, few laughs and light hearted moments.  Although the end was what struck me.  The lead character played by Owen Wilson, was a writer, he was in Paris with his fiance and her parents.  He somehow got transported back into time at midnight one night as he was strolling the streets of Paris – he was back in the 20’s hanging out with the likes of writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Scott F Fitzgerald – this was like a dream come true for him.  So every night following he went to the same location as that first night and was transported back in time.  I wont go into the rest of the movie and spoil it for you.

At the end of the movie Owen Wilson’s character realises that he cannot continue to do this, that he needs to live in the present.  He has a moment where he reflects that most people want to live in the past (or future), in a different era, when times were better, although we can’t.  We are here now and we must live for today.

So true Owen.  I wonder if Woody Allen is a yoga student or if he has even heard of Patanjali?  The first yoga sutra of Patanjali’s yoga sutras is “1.1 atha yoganusasanam”.  It has been translated as “now is the time for yoga”.  We can only practice yoga in the present moment – not always easy.  For me, I strive each day to remain present- even if I can only achieve it for a short time.

xo