Retrieved from Cora’s Holy Yoga journal, “…I think there are poses I will never attain. As the week progresses I take each pose one more step. The same way I am called to walk with God, get me out of the way and take one more step in faith. Then, I have to take a breath from the Spirit.
I have to get rooted and plant myself firmly engaging the muscles (of faith). I have to bring my limbs into alignment with my middle with Christ as the center. Then, I take my focus or gaze to the correct position. Moving slowly and breathing into the pose, not getting ahead of the breath (or Holy Spirit).
I began to place my shoulder where it should be. Then, I can begin to work my leg and knee into place. It is behind my back, over my shoulder. I reach across with my hand and gently pull the right foot up, but pushing the heel away from the hip. Before I know it, I am praising God that my back is straight as well as the right leg!
The girls around me are cheering their encouragement and cameras are flashing! Praise God!”
Note: The picture was a little early. The leg actually went all the way behind the head while touching the opposite shoulder.
I had a health/fitness evaluation at my local club this past week. The process included a “flexibility assessment.” Essentially I had to be measured in my ability to stretch forward past my toes with a trainer gauging progression. At first it was not so impressive. Then the trainer said, “The key is if you’re breathing right. Breathe deeply, and then push the air all the way out as you lean forward – when you’re most fully exhaling everything you’ve breathed in is when you’ll reach the farthest.” Sure enough, I employed his little breathing tactic and I gained 1.5 inches (huge victory for this inflexible man!) on the scale.
There’s a spiritual analogy in that flexibility instruction…sometimes we’ll never see how far God will take us until we drink deeply from His wellspring of life and then exhale past our preconceived capabilities…and see where God meets us!