Day 8: Moksha, “Yoga Is Your Story”

Day 8 of 30 straight days of hot yoga at Moksha LA with teacher Joe.  Years ago I dated a girl named Amanda who bought me a ticket to see Wayne Dyer speaker. It would be the first time I would see him talk live in person.  Upon entering the lobby, I noticed all the merchandise, books, etc…and after wandering around for a few moments, a lady announced, “Take your seats Dr. Dyer will be speaking soon.”  At the box office some people were upset because the event was sold out, I stood and watched it all transpire, then I felt a wonderful energy stand right next me and speak to the group who was upset, it was Dr. Dyer and he said calmly, “Everyone will get in, will make room for everyone.”  The chaos, drama, all fell away, and that was that.

Tonight’s practice was like that for me.  I laid down on my mat, closed my eyes, and whispered a prayer, “Dear God bless my practice, and what ever you reveal to me, let me accept it, be with it, and not judge it. Amen.”  And then the Wayne Dyer story flooded my heart memory, “Everyone will get in.” Then like clock work, teacher Joe explained to us before we started, “As a teacher or guide, yoga is up to you, it is about you, you breathing into those places, breathing into space, and finding strength and peace. Yes can you find the strength and peace in the pose.” Yoga welcomes everyone equally, just like the breath. The breath connects us all to each other.  Judgement disconnects us from the breath. When I breath with out effort into the pose, it opens space and strength, and peace is natural, because there is no resistance to what is.  The moment I think, my breath stops and I fall. I am a not good thinker, because I am a breather who functions in being, and being is listening. Breathing and listening are active and engaging. So what I notice in my practice is the more I allow the breath to take over my practice, I enter strength and peace in the heart, and then I can express myself out. In and then out.  I find that if I begin to think, “This pose is difficult, on my God it’s hot in here, what are they doing?” I fall, now there is nothing wrong with falling when you are allowing the breath to guide you deeper, you go past what you know, the mind gets in and panic’s and you fall. Then you get up and do it again. Hopefully with a smile. Sometimes I take life way to seriously.

Babies never just get up when they are learning to walk, they find balance, fall over, and laugh at themselves.  What I noticed with the practice tonight for myself is that as our teacher Joe suggested, “Yoga is your story revealing itself, tonight is just a paragraph of it.” I like that.  It’s gentle. Everyday I show up on my mat, and open my book and read the adventure of my heart, and discover a little bit more of myself in the pose.  Sometimes it is wobbly, sometimes it is happy, sometimes it is expressing itself with a big smile, but like this life, the pose passes away, and the next pose comes up.  I find that in my practice when I allow, then “Everyone is welcome, and I make room.” Who is everyone? The noise in my mind, the aches in the body, and the breath itself.  It is all welcomed and then let go.  Each breath welcomes the pose and lets it go.  I will incorporate that in my life. The mat imitates life.  Thank you for your encouragement to continue. Love on you! Thank you Joe for the wonderful practice.  On to day 9….Honoring the heart, honoring life, as you and me….

David Matthew Brown- Naked Mystic