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).

• Easy pose with focused breathing

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

• Mountain Pose
• Circle ankles and wrists
• Shake it out
• Hip Circles
• Short free form dance/stretching
• Mountain Pose
• Standing Forward Bend
• Downward facing dog
• Sphinx pose
• Three-legged Downward Facing Dog (lift right leg in down dog)
• Extended side angle pose (w/ right foot forward)
• Warrior II right foot forward
• Reversed Warrior II with right foot forward
• Mountain Pose
• Standing Forward Bend
• Downward facing dog
• Sphinx pose
• Three-legged Downward Facing Dog (lift left leg in down dog)
• Extended side angle pose (w/ left foot forward)
• Warrior II left foot forward
• Reversed Warrior II with left foot forward
• Mountain Pose
• Tree pose on both sides
• Mountain pose
• Warrior I right foot forward
• Warrior III left leg up
• Mountain Pose
• Warrior I left foot forward
• Warrior III right leg up
• Mountain pose
• Half Moon Pose with right leg up
• Mountain pose
• Extended Hand-to-big-toe pose with right leg lifted
• Lord of the Dance Pose with right leg lifted
• Mountain pose
• Half Moon Pose with left leg up
• Mountain pose
• Extended Hand-to-big-toe pose with left leg lifted
• Lord of the Dance Pose with left leg lifted
• Hero pose
• Head to knee pose right leg extended
• Gate pose right leg extended
• Child’s pose
• Head to knee pose left leg extended
• Gate pose left leg extended
• Child’s pose
• Bharadvaja’s Twist on both sides
• Savasana

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

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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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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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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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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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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Start your yoga routine with a time of quiet breathing and seated meditation. Take a moment to think about your life and the cold outside.

Let go of the cold. Welcome yourself into a safe and warm space.

Let go of your worries, insecurities, and the stress that you hold on to. Welcome yourself into a safe and warm space.

This is a safe place. This is a secure place. This is a warm place.

“Winter does not belong to death, although the outside of it looks like death. Beneath the snow, the grass is growing. Below the frost, the roots are warm and alive. Winter is only a spring too weak and feeble for us to see that it is living. The cold does for all things what the gardener has sometimes to do for valuable trees: he must half kill them before they will bear any fruit. Winter is in truth the small beginnings of the spring.”

Take a moment to recognize that the winter that is going on around you and whatever winters might be going on within you are fleeting, they will pass. “Winter is in truth the small beginnings of the spring.”

Tapping the Thymus

Gentle neck stretches (ear to shoulder and chin to chest)

Bound Angle Pose - from this pose grab your angles and make circles with your upper body, first one direction and then the other

Easy pose side stretch (It’s the same as the link but in easy pose or bound angle instead of square pose)

Cat Cow Pose

Child’s flow pose

Thunderbolt

Lion

Mountain

Side stretch (both sides)

Standing forward bend

Lunge with right leg back

Extended Puppy Pose

Plank

Four Limb Staff pose from knees

Sphinx

Downward facing dog (dynamic – bend one knee at a time walking in place)

Warrior I with right leg back

Warrior II with right leg back

Triangle with right leg back

Wide Legged Forward Bend

Mountain

Side stretch (both sides)

Standing forward bend

Lunge with left leg back

Downward facing dog

Plank

Four limb staff pose

Sphinx

Downward facing dog

Warrior I with left leg back

Warrior II with left leg back

Triangle with left leg back

Wide Legged Forward Bend (with twists)

Mountain

Tree pose (both sides)

Garland

Mountain

Bridge (dynamic – move up and down instead of holding up)

Supine Pigeon Stretch

Knees to Chest

Reclining Twists with Knees bent

Corpse pose

Give yourself lots of time to relax in corpse pose (or savasana). Slowly relax all of the muscles in your face, shoulders, arms, torso, legs, and feet.

“Winter does not belong to death, although the outside of it looks like death. Beneath the snow, the grass is growing. Below the frost, the roots are warm and alive. Winter is only a spring too weak and feeble for us to see that it is living.”

Where ever you find yourself today, whether it be in a springtime of your life or a winter of your soul, may you remember that growth is happening. That whatever your life looks like on the outside and whatever your environment and experiences may be right now, you have warmth, beauty and life within you.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Savasana (Corpse Pose)

As you lay in corpse pose and remember that all love comes first from God, we love because he first loved us. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” let those words sink into your body and soul. God loves you. You are his child. Read 1 John 4:7-12 and 16.

Music: listen to the hymn “Here is Love”. (Throughout the rest of the time listen to wordless instrumental music).

Seated in cross legged easy pose, bound angle pose, or half lotus pose. Focus on breath for a few moments. On exhale imagine yourself letting go of and exhaling all the tension and negative thoughts that you feel towards yourself and others. Let go of your fear. Let go of your anger. Let go of your greed. Let go of your jealousy. Let go of your aversion. On your inhale imagine bringing into yourself and filling yourself with positive thoughts and feelings. Fill your mind with love. Fill your mind with kindness. Fill your mind with peace. Fill your mind with patience. Fill your mind with gentleness. Allow yourself to really feel these feelings of loving kindness. Now bring your awareness and attention to the center of your chest as if you are taking all of these positive feelings and emotions into your heart.

“May thoughts of loving friendliness embrace me and envelope me.
May every cell, every drop of blood, every atom, every molecule of my entire body and mind be charged with thoughts of friendliness. May I relax my body. May I relax my mind. May my mind and body be filled with the thought of loving friendliness. May peace and tranquility pervade my entire being.”

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

May I be at peace
May my heart remain open
May I be free
May I be safe from inner and outer harm.
May I have no place in my heart for greed, anger, aversion, hatred, jealousy, and fear
May I be filled with compassion, sympathy and joy
May I have benevolence towards all living beings, joy at the sight of the virtuous, compassion and sympathy for the afflicted, and tolerance towards the indolent and ill-behaved.

Sun Salutation (2 complete sets)

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Think now of someone who it is easy for you to feel love towards:

May they be at peace
May their heart remain open
May they be free
May they be safe from inner and outer harm.
May they have no place in their heart for greed, anger, aversion, hatred, jealousy, and fear
May they be filled with compassion, sympathy and joy
May they have benevolence towards all living beings, joy at the sight of the virtuous, compassion and sympathy for the afflicted, and tolerance towards the indolent and ill-behaved.

Tadasana

Warrior I

Warrior II

Reversed Warrior II

Extended side angle pose

Warrior II

Triangle Pose

Tadasana

(Repeat last 7 poses on the other side)

Bring your attention to a person you are neutral towards, someone that you don’t know well or don’t have any strong feelings towards:

May they be at peace
May their heart remain open
May they be free
May they be safe from inner and outer harm.
May they have no place in their heart for greed, anger, aversion, hatred, jealousy, and fear
May they be filled with compassion, sympathy and joy
May they have benevolence towards all living beings, joy at the sight of the virtuous, compassion and sympathy for the afflicted, and tolerance towards the indolent and ill-behaved.

Tadasana

Chair Pose

Tree Pose

Wide Legged forward bend

Sun salutation (1 set)

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Hero pose

Now think of someone for whom it is difficult for you to feel love towards, maybe a true enemy or maybe just someone that you don’t get along well with. Picture that person as you send this blessing toward them:

May they be at peace
May their heart remain open
May they be free
May they be safe from inner and outer harm.
May they have no place in their heart for greed, anger, aversion, hatred, jealousy, and fear
May they be filled with compassion, sympathy and joy
May they have benevolence towards all living beings, joy at the sight of the virtuous, compassion and sympathy for the afflicted, and tolerance towards the indolent and ill-behaved.

Bharadvaja’s Twist (to both sides)

Seated Forward bend

Bridge pose

Reclining Twists

Savasana (Corpse Pose)

May my mind be filled with the thoughts of loving friendliness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. May I be generous. May I be gentle. May I be relaxed. May I be happy and peaceful. May I be healthy. May my heart become soft. May my words be pleasing to others. May my actions be kind.

May all that I see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and think help me to cultivate loving friendliness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. May all these experiences help me to cultivate thoughts of generosity and gentleness. May they all help me to relax. May they inspire friendly behavior. May these experiences be a source of peace and happiness. May they help me to be free from fear, tension, anxiety, worry, and restlessness.

No matter where I go in the world, in any direction, may I greet people with happiness, peace, and friendliness. May I be protected in all directions from greed, anger, aversion, hatred, jealousy, and fear.

Listen to the song Grace and Peace (2 Thessalonians 1:2) by Fernando Ortega.

Sit up to easy cross legged pose, bound angle pose, or half lotus.

Read the universal Metta meditation from the book Mindfulness in Plain English (page 195 in my copy).

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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So, here’s what we did for yoga and prayer this week:

I began by reading part of Psalm 107 from The Message:

“Oh, thank God – he’s so good!
His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
from the four winds, from the seven seas.”

Grab ankle’s and on your inhale push your chest and stomach forward arching your back, and on your exhale round your back and push all the air out of your chest and stomach – do at least 10 of these

Grab knees and make large circles with your chest – inhaling as you push your chest forward and to the left and exhaling as your chest rounds back and to the right – do at least 10 and then go the other direction doing at least 10 circles the other way

Gentle neck rolls

Then I read some more from Psalm 107:

“Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.”

Cat cow pose

Downward facing dog

Child’s pose

Downward facing dog

Low lung both sides

Downward facing dog

Plank

Sphinx

Downward facing dog

Child’s pose

Hero’s pose

Psalms 107:

“Some of you set sail in big ships;
you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind -
an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!”

Twists

Forward bend

Tailor pose

Wide legged forward bend

Bridge pose

Knees to chest and twists

Savasana

Psalms 107:

“Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in – what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.”

Pranayama – Alternate nostril breathing

Peace be with you.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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The yamas are basically guidelines and principles about how we should interact and relate to the external world. They are guidelines for how to act in society and in relation to other people. The five yamas are: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness, or non-lying), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (moderation), and aparigraha (non-grasping, non-greed, or non-attachment). I think of these as being sort of like a shortened yogic version of the 10 commandments. The niyamas are guidelines and principles for the inner world, and how we should relate to and treat ourselves. The five niyamas are: santosa (contentment), tapas (discipline), svadhyaya (self-study, or study of sacred texts), sauca (cleanliness, or purity), and Isvarapranidhana (surrender to the divine).

When I got up this morning I prayed that God would bring just the right people this morning and that whoever needed to be here would be here and whoever needed to be somewhere else would be somewhere else. When no one showed up I really believed that God was answering that prayer. In doing this I was practicing Isvarapranidhana, surrender to the divine. Instead of grasping for how I wanted the morning to be or being attached to my own way I let go and surrendered to God’s will for the day. And sure enough the morning didn’t go the way that I would have had it go and I could have grasped and been attached to my idea of how the morning should go, but there would have been very little point in that and it would have just made me miserable. Instead, I said, ok, this is exactly how this day is suppose to be, I trust that I am exactly where I am suppose to be and that everyone else is as well and I let go of my ideas about how things should be and accepted the present moment for what it was, not what I had hoped it would be or imagined it was. In doing so I was practicing aparigraha, non-attachment, and also practicing satya, truthfulness, and santosa, contentment.

By surrendering to God and whatever He had for my day, by letting go of my attachment to control and my grasping for the morning to be a certain way, by acknowledging and seeing the morning for what it was in truth instead of what I might have imagined it to be (a failure), and by being content in what God had brought me that day even if it looked different from what I had wanted, I was able to have a truly wonderful morning of unexpected solitude.

I like the yamas and niyamas, they are often much more difficult to put into practice then I found them to be this morning, but I think they are all guidelines and principles that are worth following. Hope you enjoyed learning a little about them and hearing a little about how I put them to practice today. Peace be with you each this day.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Maybe I’m going too far in saying this, but, right now I feel like focus is everything. When I focus on my lack of control I feel overwhelmed, when I focus on God’s power and realize that He is always in control I feel reassured. When I focus on the big questions of how to pay the upcoming bills I feel overwhelmed, but when I focus on the simple task in front of me I feel reassured.

It reminded me of doing balancing poses in yoga… Sometimes when I’m trying to do a really difficult balancing pose I will focus on getting my body into the pose and no matter what I do I won’t be able to get my body to do it right – I get frustrated and try harder and harder and focus more and more on the big picture of getting into the pose. But, when I relax and take my focus to something else, a small spot on the wall or the place where the floor and wall meet, then suddenly I find my balance and I can do the pose. It’s overwhelming to my mind and body to focus on getting into the difficult pose and focus on keeping my balance in it, but when I take my focus to something else, something simple, a small spot in front of me, my mind can center and my body can balance. In life often I focus on the big picture of trying to fix everything and get my whole life right at once, and I get off balance and fall. But, when I focus just on the task in front of me suddenly things start to fall in place and I have the energy to go farther and do more than I thought I could. Focus really does change everything.

“Simply to do what we ought is an altogether higher, diviner, more potent, more creative thing, than to write the grandest poem, paint the most beautiful picture, carve the mightiest statue, build the most worshiping temple, or dream out the most enchanting commotion of melody and harmony.” – George MacDonald

“There is always a way of doing when one is willing to begin small. This is indeed a divine law! There shall be no success to the man who is not willing to begin small. Small is strong, for it can only grow stronger. Big at the outset is bloated and weak! There are thousands willing to do great things for one willing to do a small thing; but there never was any truly great thing that did not begin small.” – George MacDonald

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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