Tag Archives: yoga

David Swenson on the Growth of a Yoga Practice

“Each practice session is a journey.  Endeavor to move with awareness and enjoy the experience.  Allow it to unfold as a flower opens.  There is no benefit in hurrying.  Yoga grows with time.  Some days are easy and the mind is calm and the physical body is light and responsive.  Other days you may find that the mind is running wild and the body feels like wet cement.  We must breathe deeply and remain detached.  Asanas are not the goal.  They are the vehicle to access a deeper internal awareness.  Create a practice that best suits your personal needs so that it is something that you look forward to.  Yoga is a place of refuge and a soothing balm for the stresses of modern life.   Within each practice find ways to refine your existing understanding so that you continue to grow.”

From Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual 

The Yoking (A Prayer for Unity, Christian and Otherwise)

We are caught inside this swath of love
this massive yoking
where we love one and are all-loving,
this massive yoking
where we love all and are love’s focusing.
Christ’s mystery and enigma,
this yoking love, this kingdom becoming.

But in moments beneath love’s canopy
when rain falls for the thirsty and light shines for the hungry,
ice cracks brutal over the cold and heat scorches dry over the brittle.
So we walk under blue skies and dark ceilings,
through fresh breezes and dusty drafts.
We know the burdening yoke and its blessings,
the rough harness and its relief.

These are our joys and challenges,
the balance of a life,
the yoga of loving.

Oh, that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear,
hearts to love and hearts to be loved,
for in you all things are light.

Amen, amen.

Inspired by Pope Francis and Fr. Beaver’s calls for Christian unity, and by Jason Gray’s “With Every Act of Love.”