Intentions

I did yoga in the chapel last night after work. We clear away the chairs, spread our mats out and do yoga with the sun streaming through the stain glass window and the sound of the el clattering by. When I first started it was odd to me, especially since the Virgin Mary stands guard at the front of the room. Now it seems fitting that we would practice our yoga and meditation in the chapel. I had not been to this class for over a year. The winter quarter last year I had been traveling, then I had a Thursday night class and before you know it a year went by. The teacher follows the same format every week. First we lay in savasana, or corpse pose, and she reads something spiritual either from a Chinese philospher, Buddhist monk, Rumi, or sometimes a catholic priest. We then go through about 10 minutes of yoga exercises that are always the same. That used to annoy me, but now since my body knows the movements my mind can let go. I feel myself disengage and I begin to not only release my muscles, but release my mind.

We then stand up and do a couple of sun salutations. Every time as we bring our hands in prayer position in front of our heart she says "set your intentions". It is such a simple phrase yet it has many layers of meaning. Last night we set our intentions and sent prayers to the people of Haiti. What a gift is the life that we lead. While doing yoga I feel each muscle working together to move into the pose. I am conscious of the feeling of my breath moving through my body and releasing the tension. Our teacher had us do partner poses, something that I normally hate to do because you have to trust another person and touch another person. Both things I really do not want to engage in. Last night we did standing exercises that required us to use the strength of the other person. We had to trust that the other person would hold us up.

With all of the allegations of mismanagement of prior aid funds to Haiti I think that I am going to just trust that the aid gets to the people who need it. I am also going to continue to pray for the people in Haiti and hope that this may be the catalyst that drags this country out of abject poverty. Through some of the work I have done I have heard horrendous stories about what the women and children have suffered because of their countries ills. I can only hope, even with that niggling doubting voice nattering on in the back of my mind, that our compassion will help.