Week 3: Breath Prayer
by Ronna Case
Someone told me once that discipline is the art of remembering what you really want. It doesn’t seem to help yet with (not) eating cookies after dinner, but it has helped me these last few days with yoga. I remember that I want to be found and found out by God. I remember that for me, yoga stretching and breathing well open a space for letting God draw near. So on all but two days since Ash Wednesday, I have found 20 minutes for yoga.
Since small group this past Monday, I’ve added a breath prayer: in with “Create in me” and out with “a clean heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:10). Also, since our group conversation about the challenge and blessing of silence, I have subtracted the flute of Carlos Nakai, in favor of house-silence during my yoga sequences. Without the slow repetitive music, I am distracted by more things and thoughts. I notice the spot on the carpet. I return to my breath prayer. I need to blog today. I return to my breath prayer as I continue to move and stretch. Thinking “a clean heart” brings to mind a resentment I’ve felt for a couple of months. I wonder if I can let it go. I return to my breath prayer again and again. And eventually I let everything go and just do and focus on this one thing. Moving and breathing and praying in the gentle flow of God’s grace.
I’d already decided not to count yoga sequences. So I follow advice of an aerobics teacher, who could be speaking for God: “Don’t count, just do a lot of them!”
In the past, when I’ve begun disciplines like prayer (meditation and yoga), being consistent has been tough. I try to work out something sustainable, but life doesn’t hold still. Maybe it’s partly because I have a different work schedule every week, so regular habits, except for the basics, are hard to maintain. This time, though, with an awesome yoga-breath prayer practice, and a small group, as well as a blog where I’ve announced my intention to the whole world, I feel like I may be on to something: “covenantly” practicing this discipline, so God can help me clean up.
Tags: Ronna
