Go with Your Heart

Confucius said, “wherever you go, go with all your heart.”  When I start out a yoga class by asking the students to go with their heart, being present may come more naturally.  Our hearts are always in the moment, it's our heads that mess us up by bringing up losses and regrets.  There's nothing worse than spending a yoga class thinking about all that needs to be done during the rest of the day--the purpose of yoga is to let go of all that.  Perhaps the best time for yoga is right before bed when there are no chores left to be done and a good night's rest is on the horizon. .  

Another year over, a new one begun

Another year . . . it seems cliche to talk about it.  Yet that's what I focused on when I led my yoga class on Saturday.  Let go of all that stuff from 2016 that haunts your dreams, that hurts your soul, and let yourself think about who you want to be and how you want to connect with people, nature, and God in the coming year.  Bring that into your heart.  Confucius wrote that we should do everything from the heart.  That is our challenge and what we crave, to be present to what's required of us.  Even if you don't know it, it's there, confronting you, causing you guilt and anxiety if you do not follow your calling, if you're not connected.

Goals are not as important as being responsive.  I wrote in my journal that Sue Monk Kidd is a woman who examines things, a woman who writes what she feels, who pokes at things until she really understands them and gets them down on paper.  She’s not afraid to express herself.  She’s Christian but she’s open, like a meandering river, downright spiritual, a seeker, connected to God.  That’s my vision of what I want to be.