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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

This Ain't No Spa Homey

As the boys were coming into class today, one boy complained about how much it is costing his family to house him in JDC, and that he has to "pay" for everything--shampoo, soap, toilet paper, and "that stuff should be free--this is our home." The theme for the boys classes this week is Always be on the lookout for a Teacher--so I used the "this stuff should be free" portion and weaved it into the theme. Without sounding preachy I simply asked the boys, why do you think everything should be free--what is it that you did to contribute to your being "housed" here? I continued with "How can you turn this experience in here, to better yourself? How can this situation be your teacher?" As the room sat for a couple minutes, with contemplative looks The Gangster said, "This ain't no spa homey-we may get to do yoga, but because of our actions we are here--we did this--this is jail, food sucks, beds suck, clothes don't fit, and we have to be told what to do because no one here trusts that we can make any decisions for ourselves--yeah we have to pay but I've been thinking what about the people that we stole from, beat the crap out of, even killed." Not only myself but the rest of the room also was not breathing, not just not yoga breathing, literally not breathing. I knew at that moment, I was not the teacher and my theme was being carried forward by the Gangster and we moved to centering. We all began to breathe, and we had one of the greatest classes in JDC with the boys that we've ever had--when the student is ready the teacher will appear, I believe that and I've learned in my life to be on the lookout for the one thing that is the Divine speaking directly to you--today I have to thank the Gangster for being the teacher --the boy who amazes me every yoga class with the depth of his soul---the Gangster who told me that today, he also found out that he has been sentenced to move to the "Big Jail" for the next 9 months because he is turning 18 in 12 days---May the Divine protect his very special soul as he makes his way into a world none of us could imagine--and may his wisdom to see the big picture continue to bring him Home to his Heart.

1 comment:

Terri said...

you know the sad thing is that just because he is turning 18 doesn't mean he should have to go to regular jail. Wow, just when he was getting an opportunity to find this in himself, and I can tell just by what you share that yoga has had a huge impact on him. and it has in turn had a huge impact on everyone in that class. I'm really glad you are experiencing this Jen and sharing it here. this is good stuff!! I will keep him in my prayers! there's hope for the world in that breakthrough!

Namaste