Quite often, I hear and observe my five-year-old son in a state of bliss. He’s zooming his cars around, up and over things, making a multitude of sounds to go with. One time, I had him with me during a scholar meeting – he was on the floor, at my side, with a backpack full of toy cars. I’m so used to the sound of his play, all of the sudden I noticed my students in complete awe of Ben. He was zooming his cars up and down the wall, around and over – vroom, vroom, vrooming! It was wonderful to see their delight, my students’ and Benny Boo’s.

In yoga, there is something referred to as the “koshas” or layers of the body. It can be thought of as a “map” for navigating your inner journey and it’s comprised of the physical body, the energy body (breath), the mental body (thought), wisdom body (insight) and the bliss body (in the moment experience). We past through these different layers in our practice and in daily life. Ideally, we use these layers to arrive at our true essence. We move beyond thinking and we simply are. We are experiencing the moment as it truly is, without fear or judgment.

When Ben is playing with his cars he’s totally in the moment. He’s not thinking about what he’s doing or how he’s doing it, he’s just doing it. This state of “bliss” or total “present moment” being seems to come really easy to kids – why is that? Do we become too “muddied up” in our heads as we age and accumulate stuff – as in our possessions and our experiences?

Boo’s cars along with a “self portrait.”

I’m taking the cue from my son these days. Letting myself travel through my layers and arrive at the present moment. A state of bliss in just being. Benny’s daily “vrooming” won’t last forever – but then again, maybe it will.