The Yoga Iron Man

I’m lucky enough to have a local gym with a great yoga program. One day on a whim I decided to check the schedule to see if it was possible for one to do every yoga class on the fitness schedule in one week.

It was.

And so the seed was planted. And last week I did it. Seven days, sixteen classes, about 17 hours of yoga in a week. Man, that’s like a part time job! I’m blessed to have a flexible work schedule so I was able to do morning and afternoon classes, but I still had to take two vacation days in pursuit of this yoga iron man. I just can’t do 3-4 hours of yoga in one day AND get all my work done!

What did I achieve, other than get a sense of accomplishment? The effects of my efforts weren’t really apparent to me until toward the very end. Day in and day out I ran to the gym two or three times a day, even for one class that met at 5:30 in the morning. I never felt like I didn’t want to go because I had already made up my mind that I was going to do this. Which leads me to what I learned…

1) I learned the impact of making a commitment to myself. I never considered not going to a class when it was time. There was no well, I really should this or that, or I’m tired. Nope. It was time to go and I went. No debate. I had made a commitment.

2) I learned how to talk to myself. When my legs were shaking and tired but it was time to do a balance pose again, I had one word in my mind. CAN. As soon as I thought I was going to lose it and fall out of a pose, I pushed all other thoughts from my mind other than CAN (and occasionally, STRONG.) Just that single word made all the difference. Sure, sometimes I still fell out of the pose, but often it was just the push I needed to hold it just a little longer.

3) I experienced the exhilaration of being on the cusp. My last class of the iron man was the most challenging yoga class, and arguably, the most challenging class on the group fitness schedule period. About a third of the way through the class I realized how close I was, and suddenly there was no holding me back. I powered through every sun salutation, I felt like I could lower myself down on a push-up for a count of 300 and hold every balance for an eternity. I felt strong, excited and POWERFUL. It was the best yoga class of my life.

4) Yoga is good for back strength! In my strength training class tonight my core felt stronger and keeping proper form was much easier – flowed naturally!

5) I learned how much I really do love it. Maybe someday I will teach. It was awesome just taking some time to do something uplifting just for me!

On a final note, I read this Yoga Journal article today and it reminded me of one of my classes. The teacher’s theme for the class was focusing not on what you can’t do, but what you CAN do. I thought this article on scaling back romantic expectations to something doable was a nice follow up to that sentiment.
Namaste!!

Persecuted for Jesus? Or for Doctrine?

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." Matthew 5:11, emphasis mine.

Consider this news article about the Southern Baptists discussing a name change. I post this not because I have any concern about the Southern Baptists, their name or their conventions. It's the comments.

On the one hand, you have a multitude of mud-slinging against the Christians, Baptist or otherwise, and on the other you have (a few) turn-or-burn posters commenting on the fate of the immortal souls of the other posters (or even the Baptists themselves).

*sigh* *shake head* *cry*

The vitriol of the anti-Christians...is it Christ they are rejecting, or is it the condemning, hateful behavior of so many of his supposed followers? If someone rejects and insults you for love...so be it. But if they treat you harshly for condemnation, separation, judgement and hate...well, maybe it's your harsh doctrine they are persecuting.

How many people did Jesus tell that they were going to hell? How many did he condemn and scorn? How many sinners did he refer to by their sin? I have heard Christians refer to homosexuals as "sodomizers" and it breaks my heart. Is that what Jesus did?

No. He ate with sinners. Made friends with tax collectors. Praised the faith of outsiders. Defended the guilty. He encouraged, he taught, he blessed! Perhaps we should try emulating Jesus. There will still be those that hate, but there will be far fewer and their accusations will be false...not the truth.

Jesus Look-Alike

It's said that the apostle Thomas was a Jesus look-alike. That he resembled Jesus so much in fact that the reason Judas had to single out Jesus when he betrayed him (with a kiss) was to distinguish Jesus from Thomas. Now, the gospel accounts of Jesus' arrest do not say this, but it does make sense. Jesus was out and about for all to see, so why else would Judas have to have a signal as to which man it was to be arrested unless Jesus did in fact have a "twin"?

I like this speculation for a couple of reasons. First, it shows how much Jesus became one of us. He was truly a man; he could not be distinguished from other men. He looked just like everyone else. But second, how cool is it to be a Jesus look-alike?

Anyone who met Jesus never forgot him. He could change lives with a few words. His love was unsurpassed. He genuinely cared for those around him and never lost an opportunity to express his love, whether through a story or parable that would teach, or feeding people...or even washing their feet.

Am I a Jesus look-alike in my world today? Do I leave people better off than when I came to them? Do I feed people or clean people and ask for nothing in return? Do I offer a genuine smile to strangers and show kindness whenever possible? Do I forgive people? Do I honestly care for people? When people look at me, do they see the love of Christ?

The closer I draw to Jesus, the more his love comes out of me. I don't even have to try. It's not a concious effort to do good works. Imitating someone you admire is a natural action. Being a friend of Jesus makes love a way of life.