Yoga as Transformation

Tomorrow I teach my first yoga class at the Morris County Jail. ( I finally broke in.)  As I was doing my own practice this afternoon, I was thinking about how at different times of my life yoga has been been a life line for me. I have a tendency to disconnect from my body during times of emotional or physical stress. Luckily for me, I have spent a life time accumulating physical skills that "call me back into my skin." This knowledge is a great wealth to me.  Tomorrow when I introduce the yoga program to the inmates who have signed up for the yoga program, I will tell them some stories about how yoga has transformed me over the many years that I have practiced.  I will tell them that my hope for them is that they will also have yoga skills to draw upon when life becomes challenging.  I will pray for the eloquence to inspire tomorrow.  As always I am grateful for the opportunities that I have to share yoga with many people.

Serving Teens

This summer I completed parenting of my children.  As of May 26^th I am now the parent of young adults.  I have taught many years of yoga to my girls, their classmates and other teens in both the Hawaii and Boulder communities.  They have ranged from the ultra-privileged to children in low-income housing to children of varied economic backgrounds who are labeled as “at risk.”  Despite their differences, most have been interested in the fun of trying to achieve yoga poses, in talk about practical nutrition and in relaxing fully during a guided meditation.  There have been few who are under so much stress or confused by substance abuse that the teachings don’t seem relevant to their lives.  This is very sad for me.  To me it is always fun to be in a room with youth who have never done any yoga, who laugh when they do back bends or who learn that they can do handstands even if they are wearing skinny jeans.  It’s delightful to work with young men in baggy pants and t-shirts and do advanced yoga poses that look so much like break dance moves.  With my own two daughters who have grown up in a house where hanging upside down and taking deep breaths was an everyday occurrence, I even delight when to whatever their complaints are, my most popular response is “do a backbend” and I can be assured of getting a rolling eyes response.  I find that most teens love a challenge, and that yoga provides a great physical challenge, plus a welcome relaxation at the end of the session.

Intensive Serving

During spring break 12 Princeton students came to Boulder to explore service.  Here is a letter that I wrote them a week after their return:

My Dear Princeton Friends,

I am sure that a least some of you are feeling the humdrums of ordinary life creeping into your emotions now that you are back to school. The pressures of homework and tests, laundry and other mundane responsibilities chipping away at the lightness that opened up for you on your spring break. Please know that this is normal. This is the way of the spiritual path. Sometimes we must walk on the memories of our moments of enlightenment, letting them sink deeply into our hearts. Just like we are meant to spend time on a daily spiritual practice so that it can shine light on our day, the intensive that you went though will shine light on your life for many years to come. This is the way of it. This is normal. Please remember to take a little time every day, little extra time once or twice a week to rejuvenate your energy and your spirit. Some days this will seem easy, some days this will seem boring, some days this will set your heart on fire. All of these are normal. Lighten up someone's day by practicing random act of loving kindness in your community. This will also rejuvenate your own light. All the masters assure us that days, weeks, months and years of consistent practice will bring us blessings. Your intensive week was very blessed by a flow of teachers giving you their best. I'm sure I wasn't the only one impressed by your openness, as individuals and as a group, to give your time to begin understanding the deep knowledge of this path. Your collective smiles brought light to everyone that you met here in Boulder. Even this Tuesday the Vida class brought up how fun it was for you to ALL walk into our noon class.

I look forward to meeting with you again in a very short time.

namaste,

love,

Knowledge - Lasting Service

Today I saw a woman at the shelter for the second time. It had been
months since I had first seen her. She was returning to try, once again,
to get back on her feet. This time it had been months since she had had
a drink. She looked so much better - her eyes were clearer, her skin
looked good and she looked stronger. She said that she had remembered
what we had talked about when we had met a few months ago – diet changes, exercise recommendations, a focus on nutritious foods – and that she had been implementing these changes. She felt empowered and vibrant. She told me that the steps were small but that she could feel the difference between the times when she ate junk and when she ate healthy. It was wonderful to give her a mat and a DVD and set up another appointment for next week. It made me think that knowledge is lasting service. I am ever grateful for this body of knowledge we call yoga.

Serving with Metta

This week at the women’s jail, there seemed to be a pretty strong
sadness and depression in a few of the women who usually come. They
didn’t really open up at first as to what was going on, so I started
with some sun salutations that included extra jumps, and soon we were laughing and sweating. That seemed to open the doors for some real talk and real emotions. Our discussion was on metta - loving kindness - to ourselves, to our loved ones, to those who challenge us, and to those who need it. My heart breaks open when I see women who are incarcerated, missing their loved ones, sometimes their children, break down when they think about extending loving kindness to themselves. Even though I haven’t been involuntarily separated from my loved ones, I know how often I've been challenged to keep my self-talk encouraging and positive. I also know how challenging and healing it is to talk about what makes our hearts hurt. It’s always rewarding to see the smiles as women leave to go back to their cells. I wish for them that practicing loving kindness empowers them with hope for a better future.

Serving Angels

I’ve probably taught 6000 yoga classes to children and adults by now. Probably 90% of those went really well, but last week was one of the 9% or so that felt like they were "touched by an angel."  The participants, all but one new to yoga, smiled the whole time, laughed at the word "caturanga," made sound effects every time they did triangle pose, enjoyed every minute of class, helped make up some irregular versions of sun salutation, smiled more, laughed and participated 120% even when the poses were hard.  After our relaxation at the end, during which we imagined laying in the warm sand enjoying the hot sun, we all sat up and stayed quiet for a few precious moments – not an easy feat when you are between 5 and 9 years old, and right before dinner. The privilege was mine,to share this practice and renew my gratitude for this teaching, with the lovely children from the Youth Services Initiative.

grateful to serve

Overall it was one of my better years.  I seemed to have settled a little bit more into who I am – still pretty silly but now in a little bit more sophisticated way.  Maybe a little more serious because of my work these days.  In the jail and shelter work that I do, I hear some stories that go beyond heartbreaking.  I see the resilience of women who have been through horrific ordeals in both childhood and as adults.  Helping them with skills to regain their health and to gain the confidence needed to make productive choices for themselves is high on my list for what makes a good work week.  What I see pull them through their challenges is their strong connection to their Faith and for some who are still seeking, the strong desire for their path of personal investigation that will find the focus of their spiritual life.  Harder than the stories are those who have lost -hopefully only temporarily - the desire to make life different.  Those that are too thin, too heavy, too beaten down, getting too little support.   And this is in one of the healthiest counties in the country!   I find myself becoming increasing grateful for the Grace that I’ve been given and I’m asking for more energy for this service that I am drawn to.