Yoga is not for sissies.
Back in the day, I casually practiced yoga. It was easy then.
The asanas, or poses, were akin to warmup stretches I’d done for years cheerleading. My body was young. My muscles were flexible. Life was good.
That was before I carried a child in my womb for nine months, gave birth to him, then proceeded to sacrifice my body in all manner of ways to raise him into the fine, young first grader he is today.
One can only run on the fumes of a good fitness history for so long. Years of stress, changes and parenting begin to show.
Junk in the trunk. Bowl full of jelly. A little waddle here or there.
So when we arrived in Wichita, our family joined the YMCA. The Ys here are impressive and affordable. We needed to get into shape. It was destiny.
Went to my first yoga class last Friday.
I sweated. I stumbled. I noticed I how badly I need a pedicure.
I struggled to breathe as the instructor lead our class into the 30th chaturanga dandasana of the hour. Good push-ups gone bad.
When yoga instructors give the command to do some New Age visualization, feel the energy bands, look to the inner flame or whatever, I talk to God instead.
At one point last Friday, I feared I was going to meet Him.
The instructor was trying to kill me. A pencil-thin, pretzel-like assassin intent on carrying out yogini’s revenge. Downward, dog.
When the class was over, an older gentleman who had labored alongside me approached the instructor. “Great class,” he said. “I’m glad I got to see it.”
Then the woman behind me spoke up. “There’s a beginner’s class tomorrow morning,” she said. “We go slow and take it nice and easy. You’ll be with a bunch of other people who are learning.”
A remedial class?!
Use it or or lose it. Reap what you sow. Law of the land. Ah, but there is another law at work.
The yin and yang? The swinging pendulum? The circle of life? Hardly.
Grace is at work.
Grace spoke Saturday morning in the company of beginners. “Hold this pose if you want and can. Or not if you don’t. This is the Y. We’re not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
Easy does it. One step at a time.
We drop the ball. Wreck the train. Make a chocolate mess. Waddle here or there.
“Pick it up and try again,” says Grace. “I’ll help you.”
Namaste, Grace. Namaste.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 NIV
Amazing Grace by Leann Rimes. Sing it, sister.
Namaste is a friendly greeting between people when they meet. Derived from Sanskrit, it literally means “bow me to you” translated as “I bow to you”… In other words, when one says “Namaste” to another it means “I salute or recognize your presence or existence in society and the universe.” wikipedia.org
