the yoga project

Many of you who are reading this blog already know some of the ideas that I've had in the back of my mind for a while now. In fact, I just checked and the first message I sent to a few of my yogi friends about this subject is actually date stamped August 23, 2010. Today happens to be August 22, 2011. It has been an entire year of dreaming, inspiration, praying and lots and lots of reading and preparation.  You see, I don’t believe in mere coincidence. I believe in Godly inspiration and connection. So the fact that this post comes almost exactly one year after the inception brings me more joy and happiness than I can describe. And one year later I am even more excited and still committed to this dream.  Now that means something.

So here it is: my dream. I like to call it “the yoga project.” For lack of graphic design experience, visualize that looking more dramatic. Maybe in a different font. And make the “t” at the end of “project” into a cross. There, now that’s better.  How I explained it to my friends a year ago is this: to bring yoga to places and communities of people that are hurting emotionally (think Salvation Army, Advocacy Center, poor, underprivileged, abused and forgotten groups of people who would normally not have access to classes) and give them a chance to experience a physical, emotional and spiritual uplifting. It’s sort of a Christian-based, yoga, non-profit smorgasbord of a healing project, if I may. And I emphasize non-profit. This is the foundation, by no means the full extent. I imagine it will take many shapes as it is not just for poor people, either. It is meant to be there for anybody that needs it. I'm really trying not to get in the way and limit this project with expectations. Some of the groups that meet at my church include Divorce Care and Survivors of Suicide. I believe this will be useful for that, too. Even leadership groups or just plain groups of people wanting to connect with each other in a new way. I simply want to share my passion and my gifts and use my talents for service, even if it means I can only make a small difference. I have decided to live the principles that I employ on my mat. Right now. Today. In this present moment. I will hold no expectations or judgments regarding the yoga project.  To do so I feel would either set limitations on it if my expectations are too low, or bring disappointment if I set my expectations too high. So I’m just going to put it out there and see where it goes. Feel free to comment and give honest feedback.

Now let me back up and make a few connections and explain some of the many influences that make this project what it is. While writing this entry, I honestly feel more like I’m plagiarizing and simply piecing together other people’s words rather than forming my own. You’ll start to see the references. As I write I have one journal, seven books (scratch that, make it nine), my ipad (with a few more books), and my laptop spread out all over the kitchen table.  Yet my chaotic table reminds me of a very basic idea. The connection found in all of these things is the point of yoga, and the purpose. In Ganga White’s book “Yoga Beyond Belief,” he says, “Part of yoga practice,…is to connect.”   So here I am connecting. You’ll see references from the Bible, different books, poetry, music, people and maybe even Wikipedia. No, not really Wikipedia, but it could happen. On a greater scale, however, this is about connecting people and connecting to and with God. For me, this project is about loving God, loving people and showing compassion toward others using all of my resources (see the HCC Mission Statement and definition of Karuna at the bottom of this post). This project is my yoga practice in action and an act of praise and worship. I’ll simply share some of the pieces, and my hope is you’ll see the connection in all of these.

Yoga means different things for different people. For me, yoga is an act and an art form of praise and worship. This project is my yoga practice and my faith in action. Yoga isn’t like that for everyone. For a lot of people it is simply a way to a longer, leaner, more flexible body. But once you break the surface of the body and connect and dive a little deeper, it is so much more than that. In Crazy Love, Francis Chan writes that “Whatever God’s reason’s for such diversity, creativity, and sophistication in the universe, on earth, and in our own bodies, the point of it all is His glory. God’s art speaks of Himself, reflecting who He is and what He is like.” I feel like our art and what we create and share should reflect ourselves, and in a manner of speaking, also our God, who lives in us. Yoga is art and is created by every breath, every movement and every intention we bring to it. B.K.S. Iyengar writes that

When one has mastered an asana [a pose], it comes with effortless ease and causes no discomfort. The bodily movements become graceful. While performing asanas, the student’s body assumes numerous forms of life found in creation—from the lowliest insect to the most perfect sage—and he learns that in all these there breathes the same Universal Spirit—the Spirit of God. He looks within himself while practicing and feels the presence of God in different asanas which he does with a sense of surrender unto the feet of the Lord.

Not only is each posture a creation and an art form, but the very breath and the awareness of breath breathes life into worship and brings you into the present moment. I will try to explain as clearly as I can, but the first post on this blog is a poem I wrote a few years ago after hearing the poet Li-Young Lee speak at Baylor for the Beall Poetry Festival. Well, that and I wrote it for my final exam in Relaxation and Fitness. I got a 125 out of 100. But I digress.  Breath has many facets. As Li-Young Lee describes it with every inhale, physical things that I do not entirely remember happen that literally make your body have more energy and be “more alive.” Iyengar notes that “the very word, inspiration, meaning both to breathe in and to grasp a feeling in the form of an idea, expresses the way the brain is charged during inhalation.  As you exhale, something like capillaries shrink, etc. and energy leaves and you “die a little.” Please excuse my memory, but at the time it was riveting. I wish I had taken notes. His point was that we speak on the exhale. Think about it. When you talk you are breathing out. So quite literally, every word we speak is our dying word, our expiration as we expire. Wow. Talk about watching what we say. Now, God breathed life into man. It’s how we were created. He inspires into us. He inspires us. And He spoke creation into existence, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:3. And, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1-2. Now go back and read the poem. Only if you want to, of course.

I have said many times that I can talk about yoga for hours. So I will simply leave you with a few of my favorite quotations that I strive for, and feel like I need to share:

“Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice Hospitality.” Romans 12:12

“I’m just one beggar telling another beggar where to find the bread.” I’m not sure of the primary source, but Tommy Politz says this a lot.

“To love God as we lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.” Hillside Christian Church Mission Statement

Karuna is not merely showing pity or compassion and shedding tears of despair at the misery of others. It is compassion coupled with DEVOTED [which is not always convenient] action to relieve the misery of the afflicted. The yogi (and Christian) uses all his resources—physical, economic, mental or moral—to alleviate the pain and suffering of others. He shares his strength with the weak until they become strong. He shares his courage with those that are timid until they become brave by his example.           The Sanskrit word Karuna as defined by B.K.S Iyengar in Light on Yoga

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4: 10

“When your heart is to give to others from what God has given to you, He will enable you to do that.” Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Woman

“Sometimes what feels like a setback is really preparation for a big leap forward. Progress isn’t a neat linear path.” Anna Lappe

“Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10

“You don’t have to entertain every thought that comes into your head. You have a choice about whether to listen to them or not.” Stormie Omartian

“Doubt your doubts” and, “You can only grow beyond where you are if you accept where you are in the first place.” Also, “Whatever you give your positive or negative attention to, you will energize, for better or for worse.” Baron Baptiste

“Don’t you know who you are? You are more than the choices that you’ve made, you are more than the sum of your past mistakes, you are more than the problems you’ve created. You’ve been remade.” Tenth Avenue North

“Oh, Your love is a symphony, all around me, running through me. Oh, Your love is a melody, underneath me, running to me. All your love is a song.” Switchfoot

“Come undone, surrender is stronger. I don’t need to be the hero tonight.” FFH

“Remember to soften your words, soften your heart, and soften your thoughts. May you always be blessed. Namaste.” As I learned from my teacher, Shane Zolin.