Perfect Sense - Sensing Your Yoga Practice

My good friend Tiffany was kind enough to invite me to a Sundance screening of "Perfect Sense" starring Eva Green and Ewan McGregor. The premise (as per IMDb): "A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions."

If you would like to see the movie ... don't read further! However, I believe the concept and underlying themes were so fascinating that I want to break it down in detail:

(1) Opening scene: Hero and heroine are in bed, post-coital bliss, until the hero asks the heroine to leave immediately because he can't sleep with her present. I interpret this as an alternative outcome, if the epidemic did not happen ...
(2) Throughout the storyline, the heroine meets the hero, and constantly questions whether he is "just the same" as all of the other disappointing flings she has had, although the epidemic constantly leads them into encounters that evolve the nature of their relationship.
(3) First phase of widespread epidemic: Victims succumb to significant grief followed by the loss of their sense of smell. Hero, who is a chef, is determine that "life will, as it does, go on" and toils to change his restaurants offering to exploit other senses, primarily taste. I.e., heavy spices and plays on alternating textures and temperatures to compensate for one's 80% loss of taste and 100% loss of smell.
(4) Second phase of the widespread epidemic: Victims succumb to paralyzing fear followed be the loss of their sense of taste. Again, "life goes on" people go to restaurants to hear good conversation and melodic clinking of glasses, to see artfully crafted plates with skillfully architected food with vibrant colors.
(5) Third phase: Victims succumb to uncontrollable rage followed by the loss of hearing. At this point, civilization finds it harder to bounce back. The hero alienates heroine as he encounters the symptom of rage first and spews at her a number of expletives, including calling her "fat and flour", that is, more or less communicating to the heroine that she is not special, in essence, like all the rest. The heroine is crushed and departs, later to succumb to this phase of the epidemic.
(6) Fourth phase: Victims succumb to overwhelming feelings of love and a desire to connect with others before becoming blind. The heroine and hero find each other on the street - as they are approaching to embrace, the screen goes dark. There is nothing left but touch.

The world is full of opposites, most defined through our major senses. This tastes good. That sound hurts my ears. She's pretty. That's a horrible odor! I find it a little poetic that love (the desire to connect) was the last feeling prior to losing all senses except for the ability to feel.

Taking this to my mat - clearing the distractions associated with the other senses, e..g, the dog is barking again, I see a speck of dust on my mat, it smells musty in this room, I still taste that last chocolate chip cookie ... it was a fascinating experience. The "give" in the mat is magnified, I'm able to scan the status of each of my active body parts without distraction, each area of opening is significant. The practice is child-like. I feel like I was really connected, really grounded in the practice.

I encourage you to give it a try.