yoga & time slows down

Listening to NPR this morning on my way to work, I heard a story about a new children's book about physics, gravity, and gravity's effect on how we experience time. Since the story is geared towards children, even I could understand the concept that the stronger the gravitational pull, the more time slows down. The book is called "Icarus and the Edge of Time", by Brian Greene. Listen for yourself if you like: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96095009

In the book, Icarus is a young boy who secretly leaves the safety of his father's space ship with his own little explorer space ship to check out the edges of a giant black hole. Icarus, thinking he has managed the calculations perfectly to keep himself safe, believes he is gone for about 2 hours. Unfortunately for him, he negected to factor in the gravity and time equation. Due to the powerful pull of gravity near his ship, he loses not 2 hours, but 10,000 years of time. Bummer!

Immediately, my mind turned to the same odd (but lovely!) sensation I sometimes experience while practicing yoga-- It feels like I've been practicing for just a brief moment, but when I look at the clock an hour or more has passed. Frankly, I love the sensation of misinterpreting time, as it usually means I am deep into something that is powerful and pleasurable. Some call it "being in the zone", and it happens when I am practicing yoga, but it also happens when I am doing other things I love too---when I knit, when I'm lost in a good read, or when I am making art.

Here is the funny thing though. It doesn't feel like gravity is stronger during these times. In fact, for me, it is the opposite sensation. I feel that gravity has lost hold of me for the moment. Instead, I feel as light as light can be.