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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Turtles

Love is what we were all born with--fear is what we have learned. Yoga is the relinquishment --or unlearning-- of fear and acceptance of love back into our hearts. Love is always around us, we just have to let our guard down enough to let it in.

From the first day I walked into the Juvenile Detention facility, fear was throbbing, rocking actually every person and everything. Fear of why they are there, fear of who they are, fear of who they aren't, fear of life. I believed, and still believe that many of the kids really want to remember who they are at their core being, and fall in love again with that person. May of the theme's that are brought into JDC are of breaking free, finding freedom, living from the heart, realigning yourself with the grace that you were born with--and many people thought and still think that I am crazy for even introducing these themes, let along yoga. But I have always felt that the kids are dealing with the same things that we all deal with everyday acceptance of themselves, and acceptance of where they are in their lives right now. We all struggle with that, Yoga gives everyone a clear playing field--we begin with the breath and end with the breath--we allow grace to fill us, we hug into ourselves with muscle energy, we allow the energy to spiral into and out of our bodies so much that it becomes organic like a volcano and shines out of every part of our being in a luminous light. We all are searching for a meaning to why we feel one way, or a meaning to life, or a glimpse into our inner goodness. In essence we are all turtles, hiding in our shells and yoga taunts out our heads a little more each time we step on the mat, we grow a little taller, we become more of what we are inside, we feel---not just better, but we begin to feel our bodies and love who and where we are at this moment. When the kids get a principle, or feel their femer bones, it's like the person they want to be comes out---because they are no longer hiding, it's as if they have discovered a secret only they know and they feel proud of themselves. So I dedicate this weeks practice to all the turtles trying to leave their shells, coming out for a breath of fresh air, and really feeling thier inner goodness.

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