Before I begin, let me register a few disclaimers: first, I'm not a personal trainer, dietician, doctor or physical therapist. I am a certified yoga teacher, but that doesn't make me a fitness expert. Second, I'm not trying to sell you anything or ask you to sell or buy anything, and I get nothing of personal gain out of this post....I do get paid by the Orrville Y as a fitness instructor, but I don't get paid by the student, and the Y has not endorsed my post, nor is it meant to be an advertisement for the Y. This is simply my personal story about weight, health, yoga, and the like. Read on, keeping in mind all that I have said.
I am not a gifted athlete...not by a long stretch. I never had a desire to be an athlete, and I will confess to having actual disdain for cheerleaders (sorry to say, but there it is). In high school I was a band, choir, thespian geek and really wanted no part of anything else. When I went off to college, I learned about this idea of the Renaissance man (there weren't really Renaissance women, because well, women weren't allowed to do much). I also learned about the term "polymath" which means someone gifted in many areas...we would call that person today a "jack/jill of all trades". Both these concepts intrigued me as they hearkened back to the Greek ideal that the perfect person (again, "man", sigh) is someone of intellectual as well as oratorical, musical, rhetorical, and yes, physical gifts. In large part, this is also an embracing of the Asian ideal of the Renaissance man, or in Japanese culture, the bushi, or knight. In Japanese culture, this is a samurai who is above being just a warrior but is a man of artistic temperament who can also embrace the beautiful and simple in life including the tea ceremony. All of these ideals go to the larger point of being a well-rounded person, meaning someone who is not just an athlete, or not just a musician, or not just an intellect, but someone who embraces each aspect of the mind, body and spiritual ideal.
So, all these ideas encouraged me over time that I needed to embrace that part of my being that was kind of left out of the equation: my physical self. My voyage of discovery in this regard began with my first foray into yoga twenty years ago. I was doing yoga before it was the popular exercise form that it has now become, and I am here to attest that you don't have to have a background in cheerleading and gymnastics to try and engage in the practice of yoga. Someone at my swimming class today commented on how athletic and flexible I was. This was a WOWZA moment for me because I still don't see myself that way, but it was flattering to hear it. Being that I still believe yoga is very much a practice, I still see myself as coming to my mat each yoga practice trying to improve my mind, body and spirit. Yoga has enabled me to explore that physical connection to my mind and spirit I didn't really know was there, and has given me confidence that I can do things with my body I would never have thought possible.
Some students have asked me what I have done to keep fit and to stay healthy. I will tell you that about two years ago I had a very serious battle with pneumonia that inspired me to think carefully about how I was taking care of myself and the amount of rest I was getting versus work, exercise and the like. I have taken a conscious step, since that illness, to commit to making time to work out and eat healthy. That illness and the physical toll it took on my body saw me gain about 40 lbs I really didn't want. I don't believe in diets or special drinks to lose weight. My personal belief is that you have to learn to live with food and have a healthy relationship with it to keep weight off in the long run. Furthermore, I have always eaten fairly healthy. I don't eat much meat, I eat a decent amount of fish; I eat lots of fruits and veggies and a variety of them to boot; and, I don't drink soda, or eat fried or junky food. I do know that I have a genetic tendency toward heart diseases and diabetes so I am careful.
To take those 40 lbs off, I took these simple steps:
1. Fit bit: I bought myself a fit bit and have a corresponding app on my phone. It records the number of steps I take and the numbers of hours I sleep, as well as my heart rate.
2. Lose It Phone App: I have a calorie counter/exercise counter app on my phone that I use to record my calories and my weight. The importance of this step is accountability. We can tell ourselves all kinds of lies about how much we ate and when, or we even honestly forget. This app helps me to see how much a beer costs me in calories. It keeps track of my weight and tells me how many days until I reach my goal. I also get weighed everyday...yes everyday. I have a ceiling of 5 lbs. If I get on the scale and I start to see my weight creep up, I really cut back. This is important so your weight doesn't get too far ahead of you.
3. Exercise: I either exercise every day, or I try and walk my 12000 steps. Yes, everyday you need to do something! Sometimes I do more than one thing in a day, but you must carve out time to care for yourself. I know all too well that if you don't have your health, everything else pales in comparison. BUT don't overdo it! Do something you love and which you can do everyday without killing yourself! If you make it too hard, you won't keep up with it, so keep in mind what you love and find that thing and then do it as a routine!
4. Food...all things in Moderation. I don't believe in fake food. I don't eat anything that isn't real food. Grass fed meat, grass fed dairy, almond milk, beans, whole grains, small quantities of alcohol (no more than one drink a day!) I also cook pretty much darn near everything from scratch. I bake my own bread every week (two loaves of sourdough bread), and don't have really any canned or frozen food (besides some veggies, fruit and meat) in my freezer. Yes, this takes time, but again, this is about your health, right?
Also, I will say that for me, I try and avoid ANY medication. I used to have to take prilosec for heartburn. After a battle of the side effects of getting off prilosec (it has a rebound effect when you go off it), I am happy to report I am medication free (I was never on any prescription medication...just OTC heartburn and allergy meds), and only rarely do I have to take an OTC allergy med. This is just my personal goal, and is in no way an instruction to everyone to get off medication, but what I do know about medication from my dad's experience with it, is that every medication has a side effect and an impact on some other part of your body. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. So, for me, I want to avoid/prolong that issue as long as I possibly can.
I am always working toward a goal. I may never achieve it but I always have it insight. Just like yoga, the process of getting healthy and staying healthy is a practice. My big motto about life in general is to do things in Moderation, not in excess. It's hard for all of us not to swing like a pendulum from one extreme to another. Trying to stay at an even keel is hard, but in the long run, it is better for your mind, body and spirit not to bounce from one end to the other.
I hope this was helpful for those of you, like me, for whom fitness and athleticism are not a natural gift. I hope this inspires you that if you get out there and try something, you will be surprised at what you can accomplish!
Namaste!
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Yayoi Kusama -Infinity Mirrors
Today, the kids and I, as members of the Cleveland Museum of Art, had the opportunity to go to artist Yayoi Kusama's exhibit entitled "Infinity Mirrors". For those of you not familiar with Ms. Kusama, a little introduction is warranted. Yayoi Kusama was born in Japan in 1929. She is originally from Matsumoto, my favorite, and in my opinion, one of the most beautiful cities in Japan (it's also home to Shiniichi Suzuki, the violinist and founder of the Suzuki method...the original Suzuki School is still there!). Ms. Kusama is BIG into installation art and sculpture...both of which are represented in this show. The title "Infinity Mirrors" is aptly named because a large part of the show is going into little rooms with lots of mirrors, lighting and other repeating themes. There are some sexual themes in the art, but not to the extent that it's inappropriate for children (though if nudity and sexual phallic themes bother you...then maybe skip the art museum all together because those themes are pretty much a common thread throughout human history--take a closer look at those Greek vases next time you stroll through a museum, and you'll see what I mean).
Ms. Kusama is pretty interesting herself. At the end of the exhibit, there is a video of her describing her art and what she hopes it achieves. If you've ever studied geisha, she is kind of a modern version in the sense that she is wearing a wig (hot pink bob) and her face is powdered with ruby red lips and her eyebrows draw in. She talks with zero emotion, and yet speaks of great emotion. I later told Mark that I thought Japanese culture encouraged eccentricity among those who chose not to be "the nail pounded down" because if you're going to rebel and non-conform, the only way to do that in Japan and survive is to do it with great panache and in an over-the-top way. Like a geisha, she also seems like she is playing a part. She is part of the dichotomy that exists in Japanese culture between reality and illusion. With geisha that line gets blurred, and that line is similarly blurred in the same way in this exhibit.
The Exhibit is entitled "Infinity Mirrors" because each little room gives one the "illusion" of infinity. You walk in and the object (and you!) are manifested seemingly endless times through mirrors...sometimes it is light that seems to stretch into infinity, sometimes it is a pattern, and sometimes it is an object as well as the viewer. By entering the room, you too become part of the illusion. You have thirty seconds in each room. Not only does this help the flow of the exhibit, but it also mirrors (see what I did there) the idea of impermanence. My favorite exhibit was one called Toro Nagashi which is designed to mimic the lanterns that are used during Obon in which lit paper lanterns are sent down a river to commemorate the spirits of the ancestors. It's a beautiful festival that is mimicked in her installation through the use of light, darkness and mirrors. At one point, the lights go out, and then slowly all come back on, almost as if the spirits of the ancestors had been snuffed out only to be reborn, kind of mirroring the Buddhist concept of rebirth. Standing in the room with the lights of Toro Nagashi made one feel the depth of connectedness to each spirit, and yet the sense of the endless journey of birth, death, and rebirth. I wish I could have spent about 10 minutes in that room, or even a minute, but the time limit made one aware just how brief life really is, and how you have to really drink in each moment as it happens. The last room you go through is one where you are handed a sheet of different sized polka dots, and told to place them anywhere you want in a room where all the furniture, walls, etc are painted white. I asked one of the docent what will happen to the room after the Exhibit, and as she started to explain, I said "I bet it will be destroyed, because like the message of her art, this piece of art is also "impermanent". She said: "Exactly". It was a good lesson for the kids to think about; namely, that while each one of us is a unique human being, without some larger purpose of being associated with the infinite (God), our presence here on Earth is one of impermanence where nothing we do can be counted on to last beyond our own lives, beyond our ability to love and help those on our path, who can be forever changed by our interaction with them.
It's ironic I went on a Sunday, and then went to Mass afterward. In my quest to find those common areas within the Venn Diagrams of life (read my post about Yoga if you missed it), I saw lots of overlap in the idea of our connectedness to one another, as well as the fleeting nature of life. While we might not believe exactly the same thing about the nature of life, Catholics and Christians should be able to share with Buddhists the idea that life is all too brief, and that like reincarnation, we as Christians are born into new life when we join our lives to Christ's.
I encourage you to experience the wonder, beauty, and message of this amazing installation while it is here in our fair city. And if you don't live around Cleveland, I hope you find a way to see this installation...heck, Cleveland is a great place to visit so what are you waiting for?
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
What's The Matter With Kids Today?
I work with kids in my job. I'm often their attorney, their guardian ad litem, or if they're a college student, I've been their teacher. I talk to my friend's kids and I supervise field trips. I time swim meets and supervise ballet dancers. I'm not an expert, but I'm around a lot of kids. When I hear people complain about kids, the first thing I think is that most kids are overall pretty good. Most of the kids I supervise on field trips, or at church, or at swim meets, etc. are decent kids who are pretty much fun to be around. Having said that I do see "trends" when I observe the kids I work with or those with whom I interact. I'm going to break those trends down into five main areas.
1. Entitlement. You hear this word thrown around a lot but when I say it the predominant thing I mean is that kids think they run the show. They seem to be confused when an adult sets the record straight and reminds them they are kids. A few months ago, I spoke at my kids' school and surprised the kids by reminding them or maybe informing them, that as a kid, they don't own property. This was a shazam moment for most of the kids. Of course, my kids have been told repeatedly that the property in our house that they think is their's is actually our's, meaning owned by parents/adults. This means that my kids' property can be taken from them at any moment, without a hearing, a warrant and even without complaint. Likewise, the right to privacy is greatly curtailed when living in my house. Your room, much like Alcatraz, is subject to random and unannounced searches and seizures. If we start with this premise, other things naturally flow from it...such as the fact that you're not getting a smart phone at 13; you're not having a TV or computer or other electronic device in your room; and you're not telling me what you are going to do. You have the right to politely express an opinion which I may consider, but I the parent have the final say about damn near everything: where you go to school; what activities you participate in; when you quit an activity; what I fix for dinner; where we go on vacation and what we do when we get there, etc. etc. While kids are important and a blessing etc., they are not the center of a small universe. They are a part of a family with adult decision-makers. Thus, a sense of entitlement to things, possessions, activities, etc. isn't allowed. Anything above love, food, shelter and clothing is a bonus.
2. Life is Unfair. Yep. Life is unfair people. It is unfair when you are a kid, and it's unfair when you're an adult. Good people get cancer; some even get killed in drunk driver accidents. Bad people often flourish (to wit, politicians, certain athletes who beat their girlfriends, tax cheats, etc). Anytime, my kids trot this expression out, they are reminded that there is no expectation of fairness in life. The nature of humanity means that life will be inherently unfair. The question is not whether it is fair or not, but how you deal with that unfairness and adversity. One of the first times this comes up is when a kid has a teacher he/she doesn't like. You don't have to like your teacher. You are going to have a boss, a teacher, a colleague, a president (hah!), a coach, etc. at some point in life who you don't like and who also may not like you. Your job is to suck it up and deal. As long as the person is not abusive (defined very precisely by me under the law which does not include giving you an earned bad grade, or telling you to suck it up and deal with material you don't like), your job as a student is to figure out how to get through that year or semester. It is not to run to someone and complain and expect change. I am working to build a resilient child who can fight through failure and adversity, not whose life is made comfortable and coddled by me at every step of the way. Being a parent does not mean protecting them from every bad experience but helping them learn how to look at life as glass half full instead of half empty. Perspective is everything in life.
3. Balance. Balance means you need to be able to see both sides of an extreme and aim for the middle. Plato and Aristotle both extolled moderation as a key to obtaining "the good life", a concept later developed and built upon by Cicero. This means you have to be open to hearing both sides of an issue. You have to be in dialogue with people and not take your ball and go home when you disagree with them. Life cannot be lived on either pole. It has to be a balancing act or life will be very hard. This also applies to activities in which you engage. Too much exercise/sports...blow out your knees, damage your body, end up with a concussion; too little exercise and you are a couch potato with unhealthy habits. Our world is so polarized by people who have to have all or nothing type of beliefs that it endangers all of us in the future. Teach your kids that its ok to reach common ground; compromise is not a bad thing, but an essential way for healthy societies, families and couples to function. Try and find those areas of life where there is an overlap...the center of a Venn Diagram, where all the circles intersect. You are doing your kids a disservice if you are narrow minded in either extreme.
Another part of this "balance" idea is that you want to teach them to pursue things that nurture their minds, their bodies, and their spirits...pursuit of anything without consideration of how it impacts the balance of your life is usually a bad thing...the pursuit of money without being balanced again concern for the greater good; the pursuit of a person as an object rather than as a person with thoughts, feelings and their own identity; the pursuit of career goals at the expense of your family...all unhealthy.
4. It's Not About You. There's a song from the musical My Fair Lady that Eliza sings to Professor Higgins whose lyrics talk about the fact that the world goes on and still spins, even without him, meaning Higgins. It's important to remind ourselves and our kids that life is not all about them. They need to see the bigger picture....that life is about what we give, rather than receive; that it's not about what we achieve or do, but that we are all children of God; that it's about love rather than desire; that it's about a sacrifice fly instead of a solo home run. Too much of our world is caught up in what this person wants, at the expense of someone else: I don't want to be married anymore; I don't want to help take care of my parents; I don't want to take a pay cut to stay in my hometown (that's a veiled allusion to you know who...). Duty is a four letter word these days, but there is too little of it. Life is not meant to be easy but it is meant to be beautiful, and sacrifice for others can be a beautiful thing if done out of love, without resentment and given freely. No one said life was easy, right? See No. 2.
5. Know Thyself. Socrates admonished us to know ourselves. I believe he give us this admonition because knowing yourself, your strengths, your weaknesses, your flaws..and knowing that even with all these flaws, you are still loved, is the key to life. It doesn't mean you stay static and not try to improve on those things that can be improved but some of life has to be a gut check on whether or not you can be a concert pianist or professional basketball player. I would argue this applies to our kids as well. Accepting your kids for who they are and not who you want them to be is one of life's greatest challenges, and because we can "fix" things as human beings we feel we should be able to "fix" our kids too. Not everyone is gifted; not everyone is an athlete; not everyone is good in music or can sing; know your own gifts and then be realistic yet hopeful about your kids as well. Not everyone is going to get an A in Algebra. A C is an average grade because....it is average. Average is not a bad word! Even though it has become one! Accept yourself and then your kids for who they are. Some talents are intangible, such as being a truly kind person or maybe your kid has a tremendously generous spirit. Celebrate those things where your kids excel but don't get pissed at your kid, his teacher, etc, when that kid gets a C. Maybe that is the grade they earned...even if they are smart. Sometimes, the smartest kids are also kind of lazy. Guess what? You probably can't fix that! Maybe the biggest part of this is accepting who YOU are, so you can help your kid know who he or she is.
And last, don't try and change the whole world....sometimes you have to change the microcosm you have some smattering of control over. And if you think about the impact one person can have on the lives of others (think about It's a Wonderful Life here), then you really are effecting major change, one person at a time.
1. Entitlement. You hear this word thrown around a lot but when I say it the predominant thing I mean is that kids think they run the show. They seem to be confused when an adult sets the record straight and reminds them they are kids. A few months ago, I spoke at my kids' school and surprised the kids by reminding them or maybe informing them, that as a kid, they don't own property. This was a shazam moment for most of the kids. Of course, my kids have been told repeatedly that the property in our house that they think is their's is actually our's, meaning owned by parents/adults. This means that my kids' property can be taken from them at any moment, without a hearing, a warrant and even without complaint. Likewise, the right to privacy is greatly curtailed when living in my house. Your room, much like Alcatraz, is subject to random and unannounced searches and seizures. If we start with this premise, other things naturally flow from it...such as the fact that you're not getting a smart phone at 13; you're not having a TV or computer or other electronic device in your room; and you're not telling me what you are going to do. You have the right to politely express an opinion which I may consider, but I the parent have the final say about damn near everything: where you go to school; what activities you participate in; when you quit an activity; what I fix for dinner; where we go on vacation and what we do when we get there, etc. etc. While kids are important and a blessing etc., they are not the center of a small universe. They are a part of a family with adult decision-makers. Thus, a sense of entitlement to things, possessions, activities, etc. isn't allowed. Anything above love, food, shelter and clothing is a bonus.
2. Life is Unfair. Yep. Life is unfair people. It is unfair when you are a kid, and it's unfair when you're an adult. Good people get cancer; some even get killed in drunk driver accidents. Bad people often flourish (to wit, politicians, certain athletes who beat their girlfriends, tax cheats, etc). Anytime, my kids trot this expression out, they are reminded that there is no expectation of fairness in life. The nature of humanity means that life will be inherently unfair. The question is not whether it is fair or not, but how you deal with that unfairness and adversity. One of the first times this comes up is when a kid has a teacher he/she doesn't like. You don't have to like your teacher. You are going to have a boss, a teacher, a colleague, a president (hah!), a coach, etc. at some point in life who you don't like and who also may not like you. Your job is to suck it up and deal. As long as the person is not abusive (defined very precisely by me under the law which does not include giving you an earned bad grade, or telling you to suck it up and deal with material you don't like), your job as a student is to figure out how to get through that year or semester. It is not to run to someone and complain and expect change. I am working to build a resilient child who can fight through failure and adversity, not whose life is made comfortable and coddled by me at every step of the way. Being a parent does not mean protecting them from every bad experience but helping them learn how to look at life as glass half full instead of half empty. Perspective is everything in life.
3. Balance. Balance means you need to be able to see both sides of an extreme and aim for the middle. Plato and Aristotle both extolled moderation as a key to obtaining "the good life", a concept later developed and built upon by Cicero. This means you have to be open to hearing both sides of an issue. You have to be in dialogue with people and not take your ball and go home when you disagree with them. Life cannot be lived on either pole. It has to be a balancing act or life will be very hard. This also applies to activities in which you engage. Too much exercise/sports...blow out your knees, damage your body, end up with a concussion; too little exercise and you are a couch potato with unhealthy habits. Our world is so polarized by people who have to have all or nothing type of beliefs that it endangers all of us in the future. Teach your kids that its ok to reach common ground; compromise is not a bad thing, but an essential way for healthy societies, families and couples to function. Try and find those areas of life where there is an overlap...the center of a Venn Diagram, where all the circles intersect. You are doing your kids a disservice if you are narrow minded in either extreme.
Another part of this "balance" idea is that you want to teach them to pursue things that nurture their minds, their bodies, and their spirits...pursuit of anything without consideration of how it impacts the balance of your life is usually a bad thing...the pursuit of money without being balanced again concern for the greater good; the pursuit of a person as an object rather than as a person with thoughts, feelings and their own identity; the pursuit of career goals at the expense of your family...all unhealthy.
4. It's Not About You. There's a song from the musical My Fair Lady that Eliza sings to Professor Higgins whose lyrics talk about the fact that the world goes on and still spins, even without him, meaning Higgins. It's important to remind ourselves and our kids that life is not all about them. They need to see the bigger picture....that life is about what we give, rather than receive; that it's not about what we achieve or do, but that we are all children of God; that it's about love rather than desire; that it's about a sacrifice fly instead of a solo home run. Too much of our world is caught up in what this person wants, at the expense of someone else: I don't want to be married anymore; I don't want to help take care of my parents; I don't want to take a pay cut to stay in my hometown (that's a veiled allusion to you know who...). Duty is a four letter word these days, but there is too little of it. Life is not meant to be easy but it is meant to be beautiful, and sacrifice for others can be a beautiful thing if done out of love, without resentment and given freely. No one said life was easy, right? See No. 2.
5. Know Thyself. Socrates admonished us to know ourselves. I believe he give us this admonition because knowing yourself, your strengths, your weaknesses, your flaws..and knowing that even with all these flaws, you are still loved, is the key to life. It doesn't mean you stay static and not try to improve on those things that can be improved but some of life has to be a gut check on whether or not you can be a concert pianist or professional basketball player. I would argue this applies to our kids as well. Accepting your kids for who they are and not who you want them to be is one of life's greatest challenges, and because we can "fix" things as human beings we feel we should be able to "fix" our kids too. Not everyone is gifted; not everyone is an athlete; not everyone is good in music or can sing; know your own gifts and then be realistic yet hopeful about your kids as well. Not everyone is going to get an A in Algebra. A C is an average grade because....it is average. Average is not a bad word! Even though it has become one! Accept yourself and then your kids for who they are. Some talents are intangible, such as being a truly kind person or maybe your kid has a tremendously generous spirit. Celebrate those things where your kids excel but don't get pissed at your kid, his teacher, etc, when that kid gets a C. Maybe that is the grade they earned...even if they are smart. Sometimes, the smartest kids are also kind of lazy. Guess what? You probably can't fix that! Maybe the biggest part of this is accepting who YOU are, so you can help your kid know who he or she is.
And last, don't try and change the whole world....sometimes you have to change the microcosm you have some smattering of control over. And if you think about the impact one person can have on the lives of others (think about It's a Wonderful Life here), then you really are effecting major change, one person at a time.
Monday, July 2, 2018
Why Yoga
Why Yoga
As many of you know I came back from my second Ignatian Yoga Retreat this weekend. You hear lots of comments about yoga, and spirituality, and about whether or not it is compatible with Christianity, etc., etc. I wanted to write about Yoga in general, then Ignatian Yoga specifically, and then make a larger point about spirituality.
Today is July 2. Tomorrow would be my daughter Lydia’s 15th birthday. It seems inconceivable to me to imagine her as a 15 year old girl. I do have some way of thinking about her at that age though because I have a photo of her sister at about that same age. Her sister would now be 25, and I often wonder what happened to her. Because of how that situation in China played out, we were never able to keep in touch with Lydia’s family. Another sad moment in a very sad situation. Another time to ponder the “what might have been’s” of that situation….
Getting through a child’s death, a living, breathing child who occupied the space in your heart for 5 years, is a very difficult, life changing task. The trauma of watching that child suffer through a very painful, devastating battle with leukemia; the adoption/family in China piece; the closure of my successful law office; the financial burden it wrought that has life long consequences...all these things can make one bitter and angry and resentful. Sometimes its hard to find your way through all that grief, and bitterness, and just the question of why????
For me, Yoga was a vehicle through which I could see my faith in God continuing. Yoga did not supplant my view of God; quite the contrary-it heightened my ability to see God in all things. Long before I was a Catholic I was a Lakeside Chautauqua, life-long Methodist who believed and still believes in the three pillars of the the Chautauqua movement as one of connecting the mind, body and spirit. To me, after becoming Catholic and learning more about St. Ignatius and Ignatian spirituality, spirituality became about seeing God in all things, including in moments of tragedy in our lives, as well as in ways that we can find to connect with God...through our minds, our bodies and our spirits.
Since Descartes, who famously said, I Think, Therefore I Am, we in the West have had this idea that our minds and our bodies are somehow separate...that what happens in our bodies, can never connect us to wisdom in our minds, or peace in our spirits. We lost the ability that ancient people had of seeing all things as part of God...as manifestations of who God is.
Enter Yoga. Yoga is a way of linking your mind, your body and your spirit. Through the challenges that Yoga brings, through the pain and discomfort we sometimes experience when doing challenging poses, we can gain deeper insight into who we are and we learn that suffering can lead to triumph and ultimately, to God. We learn humility and the fact that life is a practice….a life long journey to God that we can never get right without God. We can experience God by blocking out the rest of the world, and inviting him into our practice there on our mat. Our minds can be attuned to what God is communicating to us as we use our bodies as a form of prayer.
As a Catholic, we assume various postures in Mass all the time...we kneel, we bow, we stand, we pray, we bring our hands to heart center...sometimes we even prostrate ourselves at the presence of God in the Eucharist when we realize the sacritice Jesus made. Ignatian Yoga, based on the Spiritual Exercises developed by St. Ignatius, invites us to contemplate Christ’s specific, sacrificial acts as we practice Yoga. It invites us to use all our senses and our bodies to experience Christi’s suffering, death and resurrection.
Thomas Merton, the great Catholic writer and thinker, used Buddhist postures to deepen his prayer and Meditation practice. Like me, he used certain postures to invite his body into comtemplation of the mystery of God. There is nothing wrong with the mind body connection one can use to experience God. When we hear music, when we dance, when we place ourselves into certain postures, we are using our bodies to deepen our understanding of our true self and our relationship to the Almighty.
Yoga also teaches us to detach from unhealthy attachments to anything that takes us away from God. This is perfectly aligned to what St. Ignatius taught about detaching from that which would detract from putting God first.
When I think of Yoga and other meditation practices, I think of a Venn diagram. In one circle are Eastern meditation and yoga practices, and in the other circle is Christianity. Like Merton and Ignatius, I’m looking for where these two great world religions overlap. Where I see them overlapping, and where I think Merton and Ignatius would agree, is in that area where such practices lead us closer to experiencing the mystery of God.
From a Catholic perspective, and thanks to great thinkers like Merton and Ignatius, we have a deep, rich tradition of spiritual and meditation practices to help us achieve mindfulness and awareness of God’s presence in our lives. I pray that many more people can use Yoga to deepen and strengthen their relationship with Christ. I know that I could not have made it through the path of my life without my being able to find God even in the depths of despair there on my mat.
In peace,
As many of you know I came back from my second Ignatian Yoga Retreat this weekend. You hear lots of comments about yoga, and spirituality, and about whether or not it is compatible with Christianity, etc., etc. I wanted to write about Yoga in general, then Ignatian Yoga specifically, and then make a larger point about spirituality.
Today is July 2. Tomorrow would be my daughter Lydia’s 15th birthday. It seems inconceivable to me to imagine her as a 15 year old girl. I do have some way of thinking about her at that age though because I have a photo of her sister at about that same age. Her sister would now be 25, and I often wonder what happened to her. Because of how that situation in China played out, we were never able to keep in touch with Lydia’s family. Another sad moment in a very sad situation. Another time to ponder the “what might have been’s” of that situation….
Getting through a child’s death, a living, breathing child who occupied the space in your heart for 5 years, is a very difficult, life changing task. The trauma of watching that child suffer through a very painful, devastating battle with leukemia; the adoption/family in China piece; the closure of my successful law office; the financial burden it wrought that has life long consequences...all these things can make one bitter and angry and resentful. Sometimes its hard to find your way through all that grief, and bitterness, and just the question of why????
For me, Yoga was a vehicle through which I could see my faith in God continuing. Yoga did not supplant my view of God; quite the contrary-it heightened my ability to see God in all things. Long before I was a Catholic I was a Lakeside Chautauqua, life-long Methodist who believed and still believes in the three pillars of the the Chautauqua movement as one of connecting the mind, body and spirit. To me, after becoming Catholic and learning more about St. Ignatius and Ignatian spirituality, spirituality became about seeing God in all things, including in moments of tragedy in our lives, as well as in ways that we can find to connect with God...through our minds, our bodies and our spirits.
Since Descartes, who famously said, I Think, Therefore I Am, we in the West have had this idea that our minds and our bodies are somehow separate...that what happens in our bodies, can never connect us to wisdom in our minds, or peace in our spirits. We lost the ability that ancient people had of seeing all things as part of God...as manifestations of who God is.
Enter Yoga. Yoga is a way of linking your mind, your body and your spirit. Through the challenges that Yoga brings, through the pain and discomfort we sometimes experience when doing challenging poses, we can gain deeper insight into who we are and we learn that suffering can lead to triumph and ultimately, to God. We learn humility and the fact that life is a practice….a life long journey to God that we can never get right without God. We can experience God by blocking out the rest of the world, and inviting him into our practice there on our mat. Our minds can be attuned to what God is communicating to us as we use our bodies as a form of prayer.
As a Catholic, we assume various postures in Mass all the time...we kneel, we bow, we stand, we pray, we bring our hands to heart center...sometimes we even prostrate ourselves at the presence of God in the Eucharist when we realize the sacritice Jesus made. Ignatian Yoga, based on the Spiritual Exercises developed by St. Ignatius, invites us to contemplate Christ’s specific, sacrificial acts as we practice Yoga. It invites us to use all our senses and our bodies to experience Christi’s suffering, death and resurrection.
Thomas Merton, the great Catholic writer and thinker, used Buddhist postures to deepen his prayer and Meditation practice. Like me, he used certain postures to invite his body into comtemplation of the mystery of God. There is nothing wrong with the mind body connection one can use to experience God. When we hear music, when we dance, when we place ourselves into certain postures, we are using our bodies to deepen our understanding of our true self and our relationship to the Almighty.
Yoga also teaches us to detach from unhealthy attachments to anything that takes us away from God. This is perfectly aligned to what St. Ignatius taught about detaching from that which would detract from putting God first.
When I think of Yoga and other meditation practices, I think of a Venn diagram. In one circle are Eastern meditation and yoga practices, and in the other circle is Christianity. Like Merton and Ignatius, I’m looking for where these two great world religions overlap. Where I see them overlapping, and where I think Merton and Ignatius would agree, is in that area where such practices lead us closer to experiencing the mystery of God.
From a Catholic perspective, and thanks to great thinkers like Merton and Ignatius, we have a deep, rich tradition of spiritual and meditation practices to help us achieve mindfulness and awareness of God’s presence in our lives. I pray that many more people can use Yoga to deepen and strengthen their relationship with Christ. I know that I could not have made it through the path of my life without my being able to find God even in the depths of despair there on my mat.
In peace,
Monday, February 12, 2018
Slow Boat to China
I love the song "Slow Boat to China" as sung by Peggy Lee and Bing Crosby. It makes me think about getting away from it all; where the destination is less important than the journey. Life has been crazy, and despite how much I try to press "pause" it just seems to keep chugging along. I need that slow boat to come along and save me from the crazy that is life.
Realistically, I won't be getting on a boat anytime soon unless it's a little Sunfish at Lakeside....so I need to figure out a way to slow things down without throwing open the escape hatch. I'm pressing pause on social media as a way to slow things down. I need to take time to reflect, unwind, and figure out what is important again in life. Lent is the perfect opportunity for such a re-boot. Mardi Gras and Lent are always a period of reflection for me, because Mardi Gras 2009 is the date Lydia earned her angel wings, and the next 40 days that was Lent that year for me, was definitely a period of infinite inner reflection which I liken to tempering steel. It's a process that still seems to be underway for me. How do you become immune to the hardships of life, while not being so hard that you lose the softness that makes you human? I think that's the struggle I've been in for nine years.
My faith has gone through many incarnations over the course of these nine years...I think I am in an ever evolving thought process of what it all means. Even when I feel lost or flailing about what it all means, I come back to what I believe I've tried to live out with varying degrees of success over the years: find the middle path. I've had many occasions to think about what the "middle path" means to me in many different contexts in my life. I think about it terms of my role as wife and mother balanced against my life as a lawyer....think of it like balancing on a fulcrum. Lean one way, and you lose the edge that makes you an effective lawyer; lean the other way, away from mother/wife, and you lose the edge that makes you soft enough and gracious enough to be a loving parent.
We can also think about this in terms of any tenet in life...lean one way too much and you lose the form of whatever that tenet is; lean the other way too much and you loose the substance behind the form. It seems very difficult for people including me to balance on this fulcrum. We like to stake positions out on the poles. But when we do that, we lose the ability to see the other side. We lose the ability to connect with others on the other pole. Sometimes we need to slow down and think about what we are really doing and live intentionally, rather than have a knee jerk emotional reaction or simply acting out of adherence to dogma. What seems most important are those red thread connections to others. When we think about how we will be remembered or the legacy we want to leave our family, what would that look like? I hope that my family knows I love them, and that they are the most important thing in my life, but I have to prove that by my choices and not just through lip service. Of course, that has to be balanced against my need to work, make a living, and have some internal intellectual and emotional connections for myself...so back to balance.
Back to social media. Sometimes I think social media makes us less balanced, with more tendency to hang out on the poles or extremes. It also inhibits our ability to live intentionally by causing us to be distracted from what's really important and focusing more on image instead of substance. So, I'm going to spend this Lent AWOL from social media so that I can live that intentional life, and hope to achieve some level of equipoise among all the facets of my life. I'm going to try hop aboard that Slow Boat to China, and find that balance that seems to elude us all at various points during this journey called life. My wish for you is that you achieve that balance as well! Namaste!
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