Rumi, Pay Homage
If God said,
“Rumi, pay homage to everything
that has helped you
enter my arms,”
there would not be one experience of my life,
not one thought, not one feeling,
not any act,
I would not bow to.
3 years ago I was teaching a
yoga class to a room full of students and Teacher Trainees. We were working up to visvamitrasana, an advanced and challenging pose. There was another teacher in the room and I
asked her to demonstrate the pose but she told me she wasn’t able to do
it. So I weighed the options in my head
– “Am I warm enough to do it? Can anyone else show the alignments necessary to
do the pose?, etc.” – and decided I would demonstrate myself. As I came into the pose, stretching my leg
over my shoulder and close to my ear, there was a very loud “pop”…and there
went my hamstring and my yoga practice as I knew it. I learned later that I had separated around
35% of the muscle at the attachment. It
hurt…a lot. In fact, it still hurts a
lot from time to time.
As part of my rehab, I saw
chiropractors, an acupuncturist, a physical therapist and was treated with cold
laser, ultrasound and massage. I studied
privately with my teacher to learn how to modify and help the muscles heal
through yoga practice. I learned a
tremendous amount about my body and chronic patterns of misalignment that had
probably been happening for years leading up to that moment. I learned so much about rehabilitating the
hamstrings muscles, which was invaluable to my teaching since many of my
students come to me with hamstring issues.
And, because forward bending was so painful for so many months, I
practiced a lot of backbends and mastered many poses during that time that I
had not been able to do previously. So
in spite of the trauma and pain, there was tremendous growth and even blessings
that came as a result.
Everything that happens to us can be a vehicle for
our own awakening.
Every thought, feeling, act and experience has
something to teach us, even when it is a lesson we might prefer not to
learn.
Let me say off the bat that
I’ve been very blessed that I have not had great tragedy or loss in my life,
and I imagine for those that have that this might not ring as true as it does
for me. This is not “everything happens for a reason.” Life does happen, and some of it really sucks,
but when we choose to live a spiritual life it means choosing to look for the shree, the aspect of things that is
life-enhancing, in everything, however challenging that might be. Although I
haven’t had huge trauma on a personal scale, I have had so many students share
really heartbreaking experiences with me, and share how from those experiences
they had shifted and grown and perhaps even been able to see a blessing in what
had happened after time had passed so I know this is possible.
Everything in our life is
moving us towards our Source, one way or another. Everything that happens
happens as a manifestation of the divine.
This is hard to see when there is tragedy and grief, and I think that
when you are faced with real trauma this isn’t possible to see at first. But I hope that eventually you get there.
When we recognize that all
our life experiences contain some gift or blessing or opportunity for growth,
we soften to what is and allow our lives to unfold with more acceptance and
grace. What are the thoughts, feelings, and experiences you wish to bow to
and pay homage to in your practice this week?
Open yourself to the possibilities – it might not be the one you expect!
Off the mat:
Stay open to all the
thoughts, feelings and experiences you have this week. As things come up,
mindfully choose to not label them as “good” or “bad” – just be open to your
life. Take time to reflect back on past
feelings and experiences you’ve had, especially challenging ones, and honestly
think about what learning, or growth or blessing happened as a result. As challenges come up this week remember all
you’ve learned and choose to stay open to where they might take you.
On the mat:
We worked up to some deep
forward bends in our practice, Upavistha
Konasana and Kurmasana, as well
as lots of balasana (child’s pose) to
bow and pay homage to all the experiences of our lives.
Open to Grace: Breathe in and soften into acceptance of all your life’s experiences.
Step into your pose and step
into the inexorable flow moving towards the Divine.
Muscular Energy: As you embrace your muscles into your bones, embrace all your thoughts,
the brilliant ones and the dark ones, as opportunities to move you closer to
Source.
Draw (into the Focal Point
of the pose) and invite in all thoughts, experiences, and feelings with acceptance.
Inner Spiral/Thigh Loop: Root your thighs to root into all of your life
experiences and lengthen your spine to expand beyond your limited concept of
what is good or bad.
Press your thighs back
grounding into your thoughts, feelings and acts, and grow from all those
experiences.
Outer Spiral:
Root your tailbone into the space that opening to all your life experiences
offers you.
Organic Energy: Stretch yourself into seeing all thoughts, feelings and acts as a
connection to the Divine.
