Archive for the ‘Yoga/exercise’ Category

Yoga and Prayer: Playful Balance

June 24th, 2010

This past week has seemed really long. The past few days have been especially trying. We’ve had painters here painting part of our apartment, which has meant that Thad and I have been a bit displaced. I am also packing and preparing for a six week trip that we leave for a week from today. So, I feel a bit overwhelmed and stressed and just out of sorts.

I had originally planned the theme for this week’s Yoga and Prayer class to be strength, but instead today I felt like I needed some fun. So, I changed plans and made the theme Playful Balance, something I felt like I needed this week.

Sometimes we all just need to move our bodies in playful fun ways. We need to dance, and wiggle and laugh. But, I was also feeling like I needed some deep focus and balance with everything going on, so I wanted a sequence that would release a bit of stress and be fun, but would also challenge my sense of focus and balance.

So, here is roughly what we did today (in the spirit of playfulness things got changed a little along the way).

Circle, [fill in name of each person], Lord God, surround her with joy.

Circle, [fill in name of each person], Lord God, surround her with joy.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Yoga and Prayer: Breathe in, Breathe out

June 3rd, 2010

Today is another Thursday and that means I led a group of women in a yoga and prayer time again this today. You can see what we did last week, here.

This week we focused on our breath. So often we don’t even realize the influence our breathing has over our health and well being. Even our attitudes and emotions can change through our breathing. Take a second and try to speed up your breathing – take quick shallow breaths. How does it make you feel? Hurried, stressed, anxious, nervous, fearful? Now, slow your breathing down. Take a few deep, calm, cleansing breaths, filling your body with fresh life giving air. How does that make you feel? Better?

So often as we hurry about our day we allow our breathing to become shallow and stunted. We don’t slow down enough to pay attention. During yoga today we slowed down and we paid attention to our breathing. We noticed subtle changes in our breath as we moved and we did some pranayama (breathing exercises) to engage our breath. Most of all we focused on when and how we breathed in and when and how we breathed out.

We listened to Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music for Airports
throughout our time today.

Yoga and Prayer: Breathe in, Breathe out

Easy Pose

“Breathe in the breath of God
Breathe out your cares and concerns
Breathe in the love of God
Breathe out your doubts and despairs
Breathe in the life of God
Breathe out your fears and frustrations
We sit quietly before the One who gives life and love to all creation,
We sit in awe of the One who formed us in our mother’s wombs,
We sit at peace surrounded by the One who fills every fiber of our being.
Breathe in the breath of God
Breathe out your tensions and turmoil
Breathe in the love of God
Breathe out your haste and hurry
Breath in the life of God
Breathe out your work and worry
We sit quietly before the One who gives life and love to all creation,
We sit quietly in awe of the One who formed us in our mother’s wombs,
We sit at peace surrounded by the One who fills every fiber of our being.” (written by Christine Sine)

Skull Brightener Breath

Cat/Cow Pose

Downward facing dog on an inhale

Plank pose on an exhale

(Repeat downward facing dog and plank 3 times – moving smoothly from one to the other as you breathe)

Sphinx pose

Child’s pose

Mountain Pose

Upward Salute

(Repeat mountain pose and upward salute 3 times)

Chair pose

Upward Salute on an inhale

Mountain pose on an exhale

Eagle Pose (without crossing the legs)

Upward Salute on an inhale

Mountain pose on an exhale

Gate Pose on both sides

Hero Pose

Lion Pose

Childs pose

Bharadvaja’s Twist (twisting to the right)

Half Lord of the Fishes with the left leg over the right

Staff pose

Bharadvaja’s Twist (twisting to the left)

Half Lord of the Fishes Pose with right leg over left

Bridge pose (dynamic – moving up into bridge pose on the inhale and down again on the exhale)

Knees-to-chest pose

Happy Baby Pose

Corpse pose

Breathe on us Breath of God
Breath for us Breath of Life
Fill our Lungs with life
Fill our Beings with Love
Remove from us all guilt and shame
Fill our Hearts with Grace
Fill our Beings with Love
Remove from us all fear and distrust
Fill our Minds with Truth
Fill our Beings with Love
Remove from us all discouragement and discontentment
Fill our Bodies with Rest
Fill our Beings with love
Remove from us all stress and worry
We Breath in that which is of Life
We Breath out that which is of Death
Breathe on us Breath of God
Breath for us Breath of Life

Easy Pose

“The man who lives from God’s breath can recognize with joy that the same breath sinks into the lungs of his fellowman, and that they are both drawing from the same source. At this mutual realization, the fear of another disappears, a smile comes to the lips, the weapons fall, and one hand reaches out for the other. He who recognizes the breath of God in another can truly let another enter his life, too, and can receive the gifts which are given to him.” Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands

Peace be with you.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Yoga and Prayer: Centering

May 27th, 2010

Sometimes I have a hard time staying focused. Sometimes I am easily distracted. Sometimes I run from one thing to the next barely stopping to breath. Sometimes I feel like I’m always giving. Sometimes I feel off center and unbalanced. Today’s yoga and prayer class was all about getting off that roller coaster. It was about stopping, focusing, centering.

Here’s what we did:

We started the time with a prayer Labyrinth (walk labyrinth into the center). I made a labyrinth on the floor of our living room using duct tape. We slowly, meditatively walked the labyrinth while I read a centering prayer I wrote for the occasion:

We move in towards you, Lord,
the Center of All.
We leave the worries of the day,
And draw near to You.
We leave the external things that fight for our attention and allegiance,
And draw near to You.
We leave the struggles, the tears, the heart-ache of this life behind,
And draw near to You.
We leave the joys, the triumphs, the little pleasures,
And draw near to You.

You are the Center
In You is Life
All things come from your hand

You are the Center
We orbit around your Son
To Him be glory and honor both now and always

You are the Center
In you we find our home
Center us in Your spirit

You are the Center
We let go of all else
And grab hold of you.

I had Four Tet playing in the back ground. Once we got to the middle of the labyrinth we all grabbed our mats and did this practice:

Easy Pose – while in easy pose make large circles with the upper body stretching out and working the core.
Lotus hand throw – still sitting in easy pose place hands in lotus shape at chest, then extend arms straight out to the side. Bring arms back to lotus on the exhale and extend arms on the inhale. Do this for about 2-5 minutes
Cat/Cow Pose
Table Top with leg lifts and arm lifts
Child’s pose
Sphinx
Locust
Cobra
Child’s pose and child’s pose with upper body twists
Downward facing Dog
Child’s pose
Bharadvaja’s Twist on both sides
Seated forward fold with belt
Bridge
Reclining half lotus
Reclining leg stretch with belt
Reclining twists
Savasana

I read this prayer from the Celtic Daily Prayer Book while we laid in Savasana:

All that I am, Lord, I place into Your hands.
All that I do, Lord, I place into Your hands.

Everything I work for I place into Your hands.
Everything I hope for I place into Your hands.

The troubles that weary me I place into Your hands.
The thoughts that disturb me I place into Your hands.

I place into Your hands, Lord, the choices that I face.
Guard me from choosing the way perilous of which the end is heart-pain and the secret tear.

Rich in counsel, show us the way that is plan and safe.

After Savasana we again walked the Labyrinth this time moving from the center out to the beginning again. As we walked I read this prayer from the Celtic Daily Prayer Book:

We will journey with the kind-hearted Savior.

Give us the courage to say:
Leave me alone with God as much as may be. As the tide draws the waters close in upon the shore, make me an island, set apart, alone with You, God, holy to You.

Then with the turning of the tide, prepare me to carry Your presence to the busy world beyond, the world that rushes in on me, till the waters come again and fold me back to You.

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Yoga and Prayer: In the Beginning

May 20th, 2010

Almost two years ago I started leading a group of friends in yoga once a week or so. I casually called it Yoga and Prayer, and I often wrote about the routines on this blog. Soon after that I entered a yoga teacher training program. It was so stretching for me (in more ways than one). I had tentatively dreamed about teaching actual yoga classes once the training program was over. But, I found out I was pregnant just as the program was ending and in the whirl wind of that surprise my short-lived experience with leading yoga ended. I was overwhelmed by pregnancy and life and I stopped leading my friends in yoga. As my pregnancy developed my own yoga practice suffered more and more, until it completely stopped after my son was born.

But, recently old longings have once again stirred in my heart… and before I knew it I was inviting a group of women to come and practice yoga with me once again. I planned out a schedule for the next 6 weeks and we will be doing yoga and praying through various themes each time. Today was the first one, so our theme was “In the Beginning” and we focused on correct alignment and foundation work for a few of the most common yoga postures. Three women showed up and they were each so beautifully gracious to allow me to lead them in this.

So, here’s our routine from today. It’s a simple routine, and we took it very slowly – really working on each posture intentionally. The quotes are what I read during the time. We also played Sigur Ros () in the background.


Yoga and Prayer: In the Beginning

Easy Pose

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Creator God, we come to you this day recognizing our formlessness. Our emptiness, our darkness. We need you. Spirit, come anew and hover over the formlessness, emptiness, and darkness in our own hearts and souls.

Gentle neck stretches

Cat Pose/Cow Pose

Child’s pose

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Lord, you call out light into the darkness and light appears. You speak and it comes into being. Spirit, speak! Speak light into our lives.

Mountain pose

Forward Fold

Downward facing dog – knees bent and walk feet in place (i.e. “walk the dog”)

Sphinx

“Everything was created through him;
nothing – not one thing! -
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out…
The Life-Light was the real thing;
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.

Jesus, you are the true light and life. We choose this day to enter into your life – the abundant, real, resurrection life of your kingdom.

Downward facing dog

Locust

Downward facing dog – straighten knees if able

Mountain

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

Creator God, you spoke ALL things into existence. All is yours. We recognize that the world we live in and the people we come in contact with are yours. Spirit, we recognize your authority over all living things.

Chair

Mountain

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [c]
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Warrior I (on the right side)

Mountain

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Warrior I (on the left side)

Mountain

Lord, you are a good creator. You don’t make mistakes. You have shaped us from the clay into your image. Each of us bears the imprint of God. We are beautifully and wonderfully made! What an honor and a priviledge that you have created us so intimately.

Warrior II (on the right side)

Mountain

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[f] your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

Warrior II (on the left side)

Mountain

Creator God, you have created us in your image, but we have blemished your name. You gave us great calling, but we have turned away from you. But, you don’t leave us! You never forsake us! Once we were alienated from God, but now you have called us friends again. This day we choose to align ourselves once again with you. Jesus, make us into new creations – filled with your Spirit and aligned with your kingdom.

Triangle (on the right side)

Mountain

Triangle (on the left side)

Mountain

Hero pose

Child’s pose

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Lord, we praise you and thank you for you have made us new and you continue to make us into new creations every day.

Twists (a few basic seated and reclining twists)

Savasana (corpse pose)

I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus… And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

Easy Pose

Bee’s Breath

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Yoga as a Spiritual Practice

August 1st, 2009

Yesterday Christine Sine posted another blog in her series “What is a Spiritual Practice?” It was written by Christina Whitehouse-Suggs and was about yoga as a spiritual practice. This is something that obviously caught my attention as yoga has (especially in the past two years) become a very dear part of my life and a very significant way that I relate to God.

Let me begin by specifying for all of you that yoga is not in and of itself spiritual. It is not a religion and it does not need to be practiced religiously. I know that there are those who think that yoga is part of Eastern religion and Hinduism in particular and that because of that Christian’s shouldn’t practice it. I strongly disagree with this, on two levels. One being that it’s just not true. Yoga is not religious in and of itself. Yoga is a philosophy. Like any other philosophy it can be incorporated with a broad range of religions or it can be followed or practiced on its own without religious connections. Secondly, I tend to think that even if it was really religious in nature there would still be things that we as Christian’s could learn from it. I think there are probably things that we could learn from a lot of other religions. Not that I think we should openly accept anything and everything that is out there, but I do think that an open and honest dialogue can never be really harmful and that we can glean much from people who believe and practice a faith that is different than our own.

That all being said I think that for me yoga, both the physical practice and the philosophy of yoga have become very spiritual and very closely connected with my religious experience. I have learned and continue to learn a lot about God and life and myself through yoga. And I have experienced God through my yoga practice. It stretches me and grows my faith and draws me into an experience of the divine just as any other spiritual practice does.

I have written off and on quite a bit about how I relate to God through yoga, giving examples of things I learn from yoga and even posting yoga routines that incorporate scripture and prayer and that have been powerful experiences for me. To share all these posts again would be way too much, but I did want to re-share a few of them that specifically talked about things I’ve learned about God and myself through yoga to compliment Christina’s wonderful posts about what she has learned through her yoga experience.

Here are both of Christina’s posts on yoga as a spiritual practice:

Becoming a Good Student – about the “five qualities that contribute to being a good student of yoga and how they relate to natural elements”. She points out that these are also significant qualities needed for being a follower or student of Christ.

Yoga & Jesus – about three of the paths of yoga and how they relate to the greatest commandment given by Jesus. l

Here are just a few of mine:

Lessons from Yoga: Headstands – about experiencing a tangible picture for the up-side-down and back-wards kingdom that Christ calls us to

Lessons from Yoga: Warrior Poses – about power and fighting for justice and standing up for ourselves

Lessons from Yoga: Savasana and Letting Go – about surrendering to God and letting go

Lessons from Yoga: Focus – about the difference that focusing on God instead of ourselves can make

Hope you enjoy some or all of these posts.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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