I am back from a couple week hiatus while I focused on moving back to Minnesota. Yesterday, began reflecting on the importance of community. It all started with a "return" to worship at my home congregation of Westminster Presbyterian Church. I was baptized and confirmed in this congregation. I am a true "child of the congregations". Yet, I've been mostly inactive of the past 15 years. As I walked down the halls of the church before worship I was greeted warmly by many individuals who know me. I was greeted with an abundance of hugs and questions about what I was doing and how I was. These greetings continued after worship including a wonderful surprise visit with a friend from youth group days who I'd not seen in probably 20 years! I felt so loved as I walked through that building interacting with this community.
Community is a place where you feel you are "worthy of love and belonging" (Brene Brown). When you feel loved by the individual members of a community you also feel like you belong to that community. Community's love you for who you are each time you enter that community. They encourage you to grow, to heal, and to build relationships within the community.
After I lost my Christian Education job I felt lost and in desperate need of community. I was living in a "new" state where my primary community had been the congregation I was working with. I was in desperate need of healing, love, and a place to belong. Through a friend and colleague, Gina Struensee, I was introduced to two communities that embodied what community should be. First, the more obvious community I entered into relationship with was First Presbyterian Church in Neenah, WI and more specifically their knitting group. The knitting group welcomed me with open arms and nourished me through their kindness and interest in me as person. I was by far the youngest member of the group yet I was always greeted with enthusiasm and authenticity. The congregation itself also welcomed me, provided space and time for healing, and allowed me to use some of my gifts to give back to this community. Within this community I felt God's love surround me and give me courage and hope for healing and renewed life.
The second community that embodied what community should be was at first a bit surprising to me. I began attending yoga classes at The Flow Yoga & Wellness for the health benefits. I expected it to be just a place to attend yoga classes. As you might expect it turned out to be quite a different experience. I began to build relationships with the owner, instructors, and other yogis. The instructors took an interest in who I was as a whole person. Not only did the they know my story they also took an interest in helping me heal and move forward. They challenged me both on and off my mat. I began to feel a camaraderie with my fellow yogis as we had breakthroughs on our mat and when we fell "off" our mat. This community became the true embodiment of what it means to feel "worthy of love and belonging."
It is my hope that each of you reading this post has a community (or two or three) the embody true community. You have a place that where you can heal, grow, belong and experience God's love for YOU! Please share in the comments a story about community and how it impacts/ed you.
Showing posts with label Yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoga. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Love - It Changes Everything
One of the instructors at the yoga studio I go to tells us every class that we are "entities of love" (or today the phrase was "points of love"). He challenges us to "give that love away" because it "will change the world." Despite being a Christian I forget about love. I get so caught up in my own anxiety or get in my own head. I forget that I am worthy of love and belonging. I forget that God loves each of us unconditionally. We all need to be reminded of this daily if not multiple times a day!
Today I was struck by the phrase "give that love away." It can seem like a huge task to show love to each person we come into contact with every day. How do I show love to that customer who I know nothing about? How do I show love to the child who has been overly crabby all day? How do I show love to the co-worker who just treated me with disrespect? How do I show love to my fellow church member who is acting out in a meeting? How do I show love to my best friend in her greatest time of need?
The more I thought about doing this the more I realized it doesn't have to be overwhelming. You don't need to say just the right thing or do something extravagant. It is really about the small but intentional ways you show love. It might be a genuine smile, taking the time to listen to one more story, rising above the disrespect, saying a small word of encouragement, giving a high five or a hug, or even just holding open the door for someone. It is about taking that extra moment and being intentional about your act of love. It is about making that act of love personal and situational. You might only have a split second to act so make it count.
I challenge you to take one day this week and focus on showing love to each and every person you come into contact with that day. Notice how it changes you. Notice how it changes the people around you. Notice how God works through you. Notice how this makes you feel. Notice you ARE changing the world with each act of love!
(Oh and report back...I'd love to hear your stories and experiences!!)
Today I was struck by the phrase "give that love away." It can seem like a huge task to show love to each person we come into contact with every day. How do I show love to that customer who I know nothing about? How do I show love to the child who has been overly crabby all day? How do I show love to the co-worker who just treated me with disrespect? How do I show love to my fellow church member who is acting out in a meeting? How do I show love to my best friend in her greatest time of need?
The more I thought about doing this the more I realized it doesn't have to be overwhelming. You don't need to say just the right thing or do something extravagant. It is really about the small but intentional ways you show love. It might be a genuine smile, taking the time to listen to one more story, rising above the disrespect, saying a small word of encouragement, giving a high five or a hug, or even just holding open the door for someone. It is about taking that extra moment and being intentional about your act of love. It is about making that act of love personal and situational. You might only have a split second to act so make it count.
I challenge you to take one day this week and focus on showing love to each and every person you come into contact with that day. Notice how it changes you. Notice how it changes the people around you. Notice how God works through you. Notice how this makes you feel. Notice you ARE changing the world with each act of love!
(Oh and report back...I'd love to hear your stories and experiences!!)
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Breathe In and Out...Breathe In and Out...
Breathe in and out...breathe in and out...breathe in and out...this is how most yoga classes begin. By connecting with rhythm of your breath you begin to to notice things about your body and your mind. You begin to notice where there is tension and where there is an opening for release. This is what keeps me practicing yoga.
When I first began regularly practicing yoga about 9 months ago it was primarily for my physical wellbeing as well as longing for a community where experienced love and belonging. There is no doubt that I am physically stronger and more flexible. In fact when I began yoga I had no idea there were these "crazy" arm balance poses and when I first saw them I thought to myself, "I could never do those!" Yet, today I can do many of them! I am amazed by what my body is capable of.
However, I've also learned that not every pose is there every time you come to your mat. There are days when it takes every ounce of my energy to just get through "my flow" and the rest is really just a crap shoot. On those days, after I curse myself for not being able to to a pose, I then promptly say to myself, "it's okay that it's not there today, maybe tomorrow, or possibly the next day it will be there." I think this is true in life. Some days we can do it and some days we fail. It is on those days that I need to remind myself to love who I am and what I can to that day, not what I could do yesterday or what I might be able to do tomorrow, just who I am TODAY!
What I didn't expect when I began practicing yoga was that I would be challenged and encouraged to be fully present with myself. This practice of being fully present with myself has cultivated an awareness of the connection with mind, body, and spirit. I find the more fully present with myself, the more authentic the connection is between my mind, body, and spirit. Being fully present with yourself requires awareness of the effect that your mind, body and spirt have on one another. For example, we tend to hold the energy from emotions in our hips, thus when you do a yoga pose that is a hip opener you may suddenly feel a release of an emotion that was stored there. Through the practice of yoga I have become so aware of the these connections and for that I am grateful!
For me the yoga breath...breathing in and out...is where I begin to be fully present with myself. I am reminded that in hebrew the word for "breath" is the same as the word for "spirit." To breathe is to filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, being fully present with myself is also to be fully present with God.
When I first began regularly practicing yoga about 9 months ago it was primarily for my physical wellbeing as well as longing for a community where experienced love and belonging. There is no doubt that I am physically stronger and more flexible. In fact when I began yoga I had no idea there were these "crazy" arm balance poses and when I first saw them I thought to myself, "I could never do those!" Yet, today I can do many of them! I am amazed by what my body is capable of.
However, I've also learned that not every pose is there every time you come to your mat. There are days when it takes every ounce of my energy to just get through "my flow" and the rest is really just a crap shoot. On those days, after I curse myself for not being able to to a pose, I then promptly say to myself, "it's okay that it's not there today, maybe tomorrow, or possibly the next day it will be there." I think this is true in life. Some days we can do it and some days we fail. It is on those days that I need to remind myself to love who I am and what I can to that day, not what I could do yesterday or what I might be able to do tomorrow, just who I am TODAY!
What I didn't expect when I began practicing yoga was that I would be challenged and encouraged to be fully present with myself. This practice of being fully present with myself has cultivated an awareness of the connection with mind, body, and spirit. I find the more fully present with myself, the more authentic the connection is between my mind, body, and spirit. Being fully present with yourself requires awareness of the effect that your mind, body and spirt have on one another. For example, we tend to hold the energy from emotions in our hips, thus when you do a yoga pose that is a hip opener you may suddenly feel a release of an emotion that was stored there. Through the practice of yoga I have become so aware of the these connections and for that I am grateful!
For me the yoga breath...breathing in and out...is where I begin to be fully present with myself. I am reminded that in hebrew the word for "breath" is the same as the word for "spirit." To breathe is to filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, being fully present with myself is also to be fully present with God.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Just Say "Yes"
One of my yoga instructors told me one day that I "needed to start saying YES to everything" and that it would "change my life". While I haven't taken his advice to the extreme, meaning I don't say yet to everything, it has made me stop to think about my decisions. I stop and ask myself why am I saying yes, no, or not now.
This past weekend I spend a wonderful afternoon with some friends at their home on the lake. This day I said YES to doing two things I hadn't even occurred to me to do this weekend. I went tubing for the first time in 20 years and I went on a jet ski for the first time ever. During both of these activities I dropped the masks I'd been wearing and was truly myself. I let myself just be and truly enjoyed the experience. I did't worry about what others would think of my decisions or my actions. Actually I was really in my element in/on the water (I think there must be something me being a Pieces!).
In this instance saying YES reminded me of parts of myself I had forgotten or pushed away because it was not something "we did" or it was something only "other people did." I was reminded that to be your authentic self is to feel alive and free. That is how I felt as I sped along the water this weekend. I am committed to spending more time in/on the water because I want to feel alive and free more often!
God created us to be alive and free in body, mind and spirit. When do you feel most authentic or alive? What makes you feel alive? Go and do it-you won't regret it!
This past weekend I spend a wonderful afternoon with some friends at their home on the lake. This day I said YES to doing two things I hadn't even occurred to me to do this weekend. I went tubing for the first time in 20 years and I went on a jet ski for the first time ever. During both of these activities I dropped the masks I'd been wearing and was truly myself. I let myself just be and truly enjoyed the experience. I did't worry about what others would think of my decisions or my actions. Actually I was really in my element in/on the water (I think there must be something me being a Pieces!).
In this instance saying YES reminded me of parts of myself I had forgotten or pushed away because it was not something "we did" or it was something only "other people did." I was reminded that to be your authentic self is to feel alive and free. That is how I felt as I sped along the water this weekend. I am committed to spending more time in/on the water because I want to feel alive and free more often!
God created us to be alive and free in body, mind and spirit. When do you feel most authentic or alive? What makes you feel alive? Go and do it-you won't regret it!
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