Growing up I was the good boy and my sister was the wild child. YET, while outwardly I behaved “right”, my insides were another story. For instance, even as I entered my thirties I was pretty self-centered. Then, as my marriage hit the rocks, realizing the hurt this inner disposition brought to my ex-wife broke my heart wide-open, leading me not only to care more deeply and far better for my partner, daughter, and extended family, but also for the hungry kids in Africa, the homeless in Seattle, and sex slaves in Asia. This pattern seems to be the way it often goes for much in life, which I think author Mary Beth Ingham puts well by saying:
The one is the way to the many.
The specific is the way to the spacious.
The now is the way to always.
The here is the way to the everywhere.
The material is the way to the spiritual.
The visible is the way to the invisible.
Along these lines, I think of how yoga means “union”, which in my mind makes a big point of practicing yoga connection. It’s connection to your body and spirit, the spirits of others, and Spirit, which in many ways I believe is the point of life. I’m reminded how in many languages going back for thousands of years, the word for breath, spirit, and Spirit is the same, because each specific inhale is the gateway to something way bigger. Likewise, in the Bible Jesus and others talk about “eternal life”, which is less about heaven after we die, and more of experiencing a heavenly, forever-in-a-moment quality of life here and now. So, today I invite us to allow small specifics in life, like our breath, smiles, hugs, glimpses of beauty, the feel of earth and air on our skin, and the music of birds, to be our specific entry points to a spacious, spiritual, and sacred experience.
Grace and peace,
Lang
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