The healing I need is grace (yoga, part 2)

On my retreat to Atlanta, I learned more about myself. I don't consider myself serious about yoga, but I made sense of why I value it so much and why I've stuck with it longer than any other exercise program I've tried. It just seems to fit so neatly with my spititual journey. What I love even more is that I realized this after; not before, I made it a regular part of my life. In some ways, I think it helped established a foundation for me to build a better understanding of some Truths.

Scott made mention that yoga is individual. It is not meant to be guided by the teacher. It is meant to be guided by our body. The teacher is the experience of the student. For instance, we do not breathe or move or pose ourselves at the command of the teacher (although some practices of yoga differ in this approach), we follow our own body. We breathe as our body allows us to breathe, we move into positions and postures as our body allows us to. Therefore, if at some point in the practice we need to adjust our postures or breathing or take a break, then it is encouraged for us to follow our body. We learn humility when we recognize the limitations of our body. This recognition of the state of our body can also empower us to rest. We are empowered to make the practice ours. Yoga is meant to meet us where we are at. I think this is a beautiful example of grace and maybe how the Holy Spirit works in our life. Christ meets us where we are. The healing we need as a result of fear or hatred or violence we act out in our lives or towards others is grace. We would not be truthful if we didn’t admit to ourselves that we are all guilty of some form of denigration to ourselves and toward others. I recall and still participate in countless instances in my life where I’ve devalued myself and others. Not recognizing the value of my own life and thus judging others or denying Christ like compassion for others. Christ makes it clear we are in no position to judge others, even more importantly; the second greatest commandment is to love others as we love ourselves. I’ve made choices such as choosing not to speak to someone based on their appearance; no, not necessarily the color of their skin, to believing certain individuals don’t have a right to life. I judge because someone isn’t doing things the way I think they should be done. I have an inflated view of my own opinions, not respecting or valuing those things that make us human and make us different. I have denied others compassion because of my own fears. I have avoided others because they have a disability or emotional wounds or scars and I don’t know how to handle it, so I avoid them, contributing to the isolation they likely already feel. Grace is the bridge to deal with the differences we share. Grace demands us to look inside ourselves and deal with ourselves; to grieve, wrestle, celebrate, mourn, heal, etc…and then take that broken, vulnerable person and give that person to others. Because when we see our own need for grace and when we see ourselves no better than others, not deserving from others, or recognizing those areas we tend to blame others (passing our responsibility on to others), then we can be more honest with others, it opens an opportunity for dialogue with others to share and admit our own failures or shortcomings or needs for growth and helps build relationships. It’s difficult to give of ourselves when we haven’t dealt with our own loneliness and isolation that needs grace.