The Way My Mind Works
Mar 27, 2006
When I was 17, my Sunday school teacher told me that the way my mind works scared her. A lot.
But that's beside the point. Lately I've been missing practicing yoga - and not just because of how fit I feel when I practice regularly. Mostly, I miss the meditative aspect. That discipline of spending 60 undistracted minutes in deep focus.
I used to practice under a woman who was also a leader in the local Methodist church, and she always instructed us to focus on something specific - as opposed to the usual practice of emptying ones mind of all thoughts. She gave me the gift of guided spiritual meditation. Each day in her class, I focused on a specific facet of God's character.
And never before in my entire life has my spiritual life been so full as during those months of regular yoga practice. As I was thinking of this last night, my mind wandered (only a little). Why is my spiritual life less full now? I KNOW how to meditate, and I KNOW it's benefits to my relationship with God. Why did it take that regularly scheduled physical/mental/spiritual exercise to enjoy its fruit? Well - because it was regularly scheduled!
But beyond that, there was something in that room. A group of people, individually devoted to the unification of mind, body, and spirit. It's hard to explain, but those of you who understand, get it. I was there in a room of other people each devoted to a single purpose. Not unlike worship.
For one hour, three times a week, I focused all my mental energy on incorporating all three aspects of my person, the same way Father, Son, and Spirit are completely incorporated in the person God. And then, in that attitude of being completely THERE, focusing mind, soul, and strength on Him. It was deep, heady stuff. And I miss it, desperately.
Wish I could find a church with a regular yoga practice, but so few Christians get it.
Monks and nuns get it. Full-time.