The Y12SR and Sunday night yoga classes have new students nearly every week. I enjoy watching them as they step timidly on the mat, not knowing what to expect. At the end of each class I frequently hear “I didn’t know what to expect! I feel so light and so relaxed.” This in spite of the occasional moans and grumblings in the poses! “I didn’t know I could do this, but I feel much better now that I have tried.” YES!
During the meeting portion of the Y12SR classes I am enriched with knowledge, insights and struggles brought by each new person who comes.
There are those, too, who have been coming week after week, finding more confidence, strength and flexibility on the mat. I have had the delight of getting to know a young person who is the friend of one of my kids. An “old soul” who has wisdom and kindness, yet has experienced so much pain from the journey to wholeness. Coming back to the class, several sessions in a row, I get to hear the serenity being developed, the healthy solutions being sought and the tenacity that grows out of living a life in recovery one day at a time.
I have met people further along their path of recovery who want or need to expand their tools of coping and soothing. Yoga coupled with the tools of recovery do fit that bill: yoga philosophy giving an additional framework in which to discuss our recovery ethics and what it true to us. Yoga movement helping to release the tensions that have built over time. Pain in the spirit, the body, and the mind can be lovingly addressed and let go.
I have met people who are not sure what the problem is: self or another, personal behavior or the “unacceptable” behavior of a loved one. Sitting in the discussion circle, hearing what is read and said, can help unravel the confusion. Taking it to the mat assists in working things out; as the body moves through the poses – the subconscious mind can move through what has been said. Sivasana then integrates the activity of the body and the enlightenment of the mind.
So new folks are arriving each week; some stay , some drift in and out, but I am always left with the honor of having been in their presence. I am grateful.
This blog post was written by Kcyzy Hawk, author of Yoga and the Twelve Steps
