Yoga For The Soul

On Sunday, July 27th we concluded our three-part series entitled “Yoga for the Soul.”

The series was entitled “Yoga for the Soul” for a few reasons.

I have been learning and practicing yoga since about 2007, and it has been transformative both physically and spiritually.    My physical practice gives me information about my spiritual practice. This means, how I am with myself on the yoga mat is just how I am with myself in life.  Am I comparing myself to others?  Do I take a lot of pride in poses that come easily?  Do I “beat up” on myself if a movement or posture is hard?  Do I set my goals too high, and then decide I am a failure when I cannot achieve them quickly and easily?  Do I give up too easily?  The lessons go on and on.

At BCNJ, we are trying to develop good spiritual habits, and these take practice, self-observation and time as well.  When we are intentionally trying to grow and mature in our spirits, we are doing inner yoga, or yoga for our souls.  Just like physical yoga, spiritual yoga can be sometimes a struggle and sometimes restful, sometimes uncomfortable and sometimes pleasurable, sometimes quite easy and sometimes it seems quite impossible.

Our specific topic was Sabbath rest.  Taking our rest is almost pathologically difficult for many of us.  The final pose in many yoga traditions is “resting pose.”  It involves lying quietly on one’s back and letting all worries melt away.  And yet it is often considered unimportant—it is often skipped—when it is one of the most difficult and most important poses of all.  Like giving ourselves Sabbath rest, the resting pose is often overlooked, skimped on, or forgotten.  I include myself in this description!  I struggle with allowing myself true spiritual rest time.  Yet God actually commands us to “remember” Sabbath rest.

Sabbath rest can look like quiet time—just spending time with ourselves without distraction or entertainment.  MANY of us find that hard to do.  But it can also look like various forms of playful creative exploration.  It can be improvisational movement, or journaling, drawing, or humming something new.  It can be almost anything that brings on an altered state (without drugs!). It can happen while gardening or running, knitting or cycling, meditating, reading sacred scripture, or even while building a jigsaw puzzle.

Yet we resist allowing ourselves this play and rest—this TRUE, spiritual play and rest, (not just solitaire on the computer).  In our sessions we discussed what we found spiritually restorative; why and how we resisted spiritual rest; and what we might do to clear the blocks and remember to include spiritually restful times in our busy schedules.

May your summer continue to be restful and restorative!

Peace, Rev. Alison