Namaste

(Drafted sometime in September last year)

“Are you a catholic?”

“Yes I am”

—————

I recently signed up for Yoga Classes every morning with the aim to be holistically healthy and balanced. I had some reservations when I started this i.e. being obviously uncomfortable with the blown up photo of a half smiling, eyes closed “Sri Sri” who wears a hipster full rimmed eyeglasses you may be mistaken as a retro sunglasses at first glance that sits well in a corner of the studio with matching symbols and poses I couldn’t even understand. Pre and Post-Asana meditations’ quite a struggle for me, too. I couldn’t help but think “What the shit am I listening to?”

Close your eyes and feel the energy of the world. Exhale all the tensions, inhale all the energies. Focus on your breathing and relax all your muscles… From the temple of your head, down to your neck, and your arms… Empty your mind as you release your worries and be in the moment…

Inhalation….

Exhalation…

Inhale…

Exhale…

Damn it. I think it will make me go crazy at the end of the sessions instead of being at peace.

But Sri Sri (or God, maybe) surprised me one fine morning.

It was a usual early morning class when I was greeted by a new instructor (at least new in my eyes). She was petite, a bit old, and she wore a mismatched outfit that does not go well with her age.

When we started the session, I was waiting for the chant I used to hear (you know, the inhale exhale universe kind of thing) but surprisingly, I found myself praying. Yes, the catholic — Dear God — prayer. She was leading, telling us to offer this day, our energies to the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. She continued praying to God to give us enough strength to pursue the day with passion and heart full of love, and to surrender our angst, worries and fears to Him.

Then we started the poses.

The entire session I was not comfortable. I guess I got stuck to what happened just moments ago when we actually prayed… Something I never saw coming, especially with the Hippie Sri Sri staring blankly at us in the corner of the room, his incense I could still smell.

At the end of the session I approached the lady. I’ve been wanting to approach any of the instructors to consult my “back/spine problem”… Maybe it was timely that today was the day I took an action to really approach an instructor (the past days I was hesitant, or maybe shy? LOL)

As she folded her mat, I came closer and asked her about my plea. I told her I’ve been suffering from back pain and I know that my posture is not good… and I don’t know if it’s advisable for me to continue yoga as it may worsen the problem.

I could only remember that she told me how she suffered from the same situation and how yoga helped her recover and re-align her spine.

But I couldn’t remember how we ended up having this conversation:

“Are you a catholic?” She asked.

“Yes I am” I replied, though it made me uncomfortable… I couldn’t explain exactly why it gave me such feeling.

She then went on saying…

“You know when we pray, we talk to the Lord, we tell our desires, our heartaches, our worries. But when we meditate, just like what we did earlier… We listen to Him. We listen to what He has to say and it’s powerful.. To be still and listen to His word… To surrender ourselves to Him and to be at peace with the knowledge that He is in charge and He will never forsake us.”

I was speechless.