Choosing health - Yoga edition

There are many choices we make in life, one of which is how to best care for our physical bodies.  And once that choice becomes a priority, then there are a plethora of ways to be able to practice health.  I for one really love swimming and biking and running and occasionally playing volleyball with friends, and admittedly I am not very good at attending to the part where there is stretching involved.  That said, I do realize the necessity, and so I seek out ways to allow my body to find flexibility.  Easy enough - there are lots of yoga classes that are accessibly.  

The problem is I am not a fan of yoga...at least not in the middle of practice when it is hard and I notice how NOT flexible I am.  But I am a fan of what it does for my body and my mind, and I am a fan of the deliberate practice and of learning how to be present in times that are not physically comfortable for me.  And I so very much appreciate that although I can pull up a video and do yoga in my own home, there is something about the energy in a place where we do yoga together that offers another piece to the practice.   The "work" that I do in a yoga class is for me and it is mine, but I know that the communal energy pushes me deeper into the practice, I know if I need help others are right there. I know I will make friends simply by being present.  I know that because that is also how community works.  I see it on a regular basis, I experience it on a regular basis.  

Sometimes I think it is like eating things like liver, or Kale.  I need the iron, but I am not a fan of those foods.  (I don't eat liver anymore, but that is another story)  We choose to allow ourselves to find health.  Sometimes that means that we will not always be in the moment of full pleasure.  That is a thing in the life of humanity.  Somehow we have gotten it in our heads that life is simply about creating pleasurable experiences.  But if we are choosing to be healthy (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually) there are parts of the road that are hard.

These choices are all a part of the explorations in this journey of life that we walk, more often together than alone.

Practice and Purpose

When I was young my parents made my sister and I take piano lessons.  I am not sure if it was ever really a choice.  Not that I minded, but I am not sure I would have been inclined to continue if I knew it was a choice.  Not only did we have lessons, but in my house we were required to practice at least 30 minutes a day.  I didn't mind being able to play the piano - I didn't even mind practicing (although I played only the things that I liked and didn't work on the assignments as much as I should have).  However, I know I complained about having to practice when I really wanted to be outside, or watch T.V. or talk on the phone . . . but the timer was set and off I went.

I really liked my piano teacher.  She was kind and helpful.  She may have scolded us for not practicing more, but I always felt like she liked me.  Plus she had a cat and a dog and games to play while you waited for your turn.

One of the things about her little piano room (which held 2 upright pianos) was a sign that sat on one piano which said -

"Practice does not make perfect. 

Practice makes habit. 

Only perfect practice makes perfect."  

For a long time I have mulled over that statement.  I have always believed it to be true.  And sometimes that can feel very heavy.  It is only recently that I have begun to question perfection.  I wonder perfection is not what I have made it out to be in the past.

Bear with me on this one...One of the things that I did get scolded for in piano was that I liked to improvise.  My teacher would say "Erin, first you need to learn how to play what is written - and then you can make it your own."  Maybe that is more what perfection is about.

As a healer and a pastor I believe that we are all created perfectly.  When we learn what God has written in our body, our soul, our mind, our spirit,  then we can make it our own.  Maybe then - Perfection is living out our Purpose...But first we have to learn what is written.  And our community and our experiences make a big impact on that.  Community life plays a very important role in helping us to read ourselves.

And so there is a long explanation to say - it is time get back to the practice.  Practice writing and thinking and moving muscles that I have let go of for awhile.

It is time for me to claim my wisdom and bravery.

So if you are reading this blog, if you follow it - please bear with me.  There will likely be a lot of what one of my colleagues calls "hose spiders"*.  For awhile this may just be for me, but you are welcome to come a long for the writing/thinking/dreaming rehab that I am giving myself.  And I should say that I was particularly inspired to get back into it because of an article from  becoming minimalist (one of the blogs I follow).

there you have it - and here we go!!!

(30 minutes a day of keyboard/blogging)

Peace and Light

Erin

*hose spider - the spiders that have crawled into your garden hose over a long winter and come scrambling out when you turn on the water for the first time.  They may or may not make a mess - but they are a little surprising and scary until the hose gets cleaned out.

Bravery

I found this draft of a post the other day that I actually had started a few years ago...

"My sister will tell you that she always counted on me to be the brave one - the daring sister who would try things out first and make sure they were safe (if I didn't break something then maybe - maybe she would try it).  Well, I have broken a number of bones in my life . . . some may say that has to do with me being a bit of a klutz - and although I learned a lot from my brokenness for a long time I believed that I should stop doing "dangerous" things.  I believed that I just didn't have the athletic ability."

I realized that I let myself believe in those times that this physical ability transferred over to other  parts of my life - I stopped doing and trying new things.  I stopped swimming in the ocean, I stopped talking to people when I went for long walks, I stopped writing on a regular basis...

In the past week I recognized that being brave has been a part of my DNA - I was the brave one growing up.  I was always trying new things, meeting new people, inviting others along.  I was trusting of my intuition and of others around me.

So it came to me that this word for the 2014 is not so much about discovering - but uncovering, (maybe even re-defining) what it is to be brave;  as a mom, wife, sister, friend, healer, pastor...

Are there characteristics of your past that your would like to uncover or reclaim?

Writing Connections

Over the Christmas season it is customary to write and receive a lot of mail; Letters and card from family and friends telling you about how the past year has gone and what they are currently “up to”.  How wonderful to be able to be connected in that way.

Now that the season is past it tends to get harder to write letters, but maybe this is a great time to send just a few personal notes.  It can be a good practice for the month/year.  These are not the notes that go out to everyone, but the notes that allow us to remember why we stay connected to certain family and friends Each letter is unique, and it's contents depend upon the recipient and what's going on in your life

The following are some prompts/thoughts that may help you get started…

1 – make a list of values that are important to you that you may share with the person you are writing to.  Did you learn these values from them?  How do you see these values play out in your life or theirs?

2 – has this person been a part of any major life accomplishments?  How has that important to you?

3 – Is there anything this person has done/seen in their lifetime that you would like to learn about?  Are there questions that you could ask about that event?

4 – Are there resolutions or goals that you have over the next year that you would like this person to be a part of?  How do you see that happening

Just as a side note - you do not have to use all (or any) these prompts.  These are simply a few thoughts to get you started.  If you have some time – I would suggest sitting down for 10-20 minutes just to brain storm and get some thoughts on paper before you even start to write the letter. 

It is a true gift to receive a letter like this – (as well as being able to write one) - If you would like to make this practice more of a ritual (or more sacred) check out my next post on the Ritual of Writing.