i am taking a hatha yoga class every monday and wednesday this semester... the class runs about and hour and it is seated in a perfectly inconvenient spot... the class starts at noon and i am not supposed to really eat much before class, but the class is bordered on the other side by a spanish class that begins usually the time i am getting out of my yoga class...
anyways, that is not the point... the point is: i have learned much from my yoga class... much for life, much for god, much for reality... so on to that...
first is the importance of breathing... as i am reading merton, he calls a phrase over and over in one of the first several chapters... 'take your mind with you down into your heart'... for this is contemplative thought/processing/life... and i hear my yoga professor ask us to take our minds with us down into our breath... for this is where the subconscience and conscience meet... true, right?... i mean, breathing is one of our most subconscious acts we perform all day, every day... and to meet it by controlling it... by taking our minds into our breathing, into our core, into our hearts (metaphorically)... deep three-cycle breath: first, fill the stomach, then bring the breath into the chest and let it open up the chest, then bring the breath into the back of the throat... and then let it all out and begin the cycle again...
a second thing that i have realized in regards to religious functions and why it is good for people to participate on a weekly basis, even if that is all they do... you see, i used to kind of be against the whole sunday morning service experience because that would be the crux of a person's 'spiritual' life, but i can now see its importance... you see, i cant do yoga all day... i cannot even do it every day, but doing it twice a week for an hour has a changing effect on my life... i can feel myself trying to straighten my posture even as i write, i go into deep breathing more frequently... its effects on my week are huge... what are the implications of this for the church in performing religious services?...
a third thing is to realize that change takes time... i think we have short-circuited the 'growth process' in many ways in our turbo-charged efficient western world... we hear of people who changed their lives on a dime and we praise god for it... but the other 99.5% of people change on a slower basis... what is that quote about how many times it takes repeating something before it actually becomes a natural habit?...
i was talking with jasen yesterday and we laughed about our trip to j tree several weeks ago and how we had to interject this 'event' into our lives to get clarity... we jump to some big thing to hopefully change us quickly... instead of doing little things that change us, but change us slowly... like breathing... and posture... and healthier eating... these will not bring instant results... but they will change me...
my brother is on atkins (i think) and i have read bad things about atkins in its more long-term effects (though there isnt quite enough evidence long-term yet)... i can see why people are drawn to it though: quick turn-around on losing weight... who wouldnt want that?... but what about its long-term sustainability and health?... i will go the other way and enjoy my carbs, but in a healthier lifestyle...
i am not saying that 'quick-fixes' are worthless... they can provide a means to get out of a rut, but if we are to truly realize that we are on a journey towards beauty and wholeness, let it take time... dont jump the gun...
one final thought from yoga and i will close... this is ancient yoga philosophy that my instructor shared and i found it very enlightening...
"Do not seek the way to happiness... for happiness is the way."
... and so i say do not seek the way to god, for god is the way...
2 comments:
Ryan, could you define Yoga as you practice it?
i practice hatha yoga class two days a week for about an hour... we roll out our yoga mats in a dim room with soothing music... we begin with breathing excercises in the su-hasana (sp?) position and then we begin moving in and out of our yoga poses, focusing on breath, focusing on those areas that are tight, using un-forced methods to move ourselves into more flexible places, developing and practicing patience along the way... not being too hard on ourselves... not expecting too much too quickly...
then, after about 50 minutes of poses, we lay flat on the ground in corpse pose, releasing things with palms up and breathing deep...
then we waken and pray together and leave... thats how i practice formal yoga... informal yoga (what i do every day) is breathing more consciously, lowering my shoulders (i carry alot of stress in them), keeping my brow from being furrowed, and straightening my spine as often as i think to...
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