Yoga and Bob Dylan Saved Me
As a child my family never attended church. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I went on a consistent basis, and then I was only attending alongside an abusive boyfriend. I never did get a feeling of comfort being inside a church, and when the bad relationship got worse, I had to wonder if this is where God really lived. My personal observations proved that everyone seemed to be speaking and behaving in complete contradiction. I always have feared God, and believed in something bigger than me, but turned my back on religion. Thirteen years ago I started practicing yoga, my momma was my first teacher. I did find comfort in the peace of mind, strength, and the beauty that I felt within myself when I was on a mat. Yoga speaks in terms of spirituality rather than religion. You learn to understand what your body is trying to tell you and to listen. I was reluctant to call my experiences on my mat spiritual, and because of my religious experiences, it wasn’t what I expected God/Spirituality to feel like. I haven’t met a preacher yet who wants to talk about the possibility of finding Jesus through a yoga practice. When you think outside the box, and mean it, you’re likely to start standing all alone. While I love Yoga, I always thought that it felt too stuffy at times. It seems so intimidating, and those that lack confidence in themselves may be too fearful to give it a try. Anyone and everyone could benefit from yoga so I’m going to share a secret with you; people fart all the time in Yoga. Farts are funny, and much better out than in. A healthy digestive system and falling asleep in Savasana are compliments to me as a yoga instructor. Life is far too short to take ourselves so seriously!
Earlier this year I dove into Bob Dylan’s music. I got out all the cd’s we had, sat on the floor listening from start to finish and read the inside covers. He blew my mind! I could relate to him and his stories emotionally. I heard a man singing to defy social standards. We have to figure out what is best for ourselves, and that it doesn’t always have to come from a familiar place. Through his music I learned to stand up for myself and realize that sometimes you have to get frustrated and angry to figure out what it is you really stand for. Those who mind, they’ll tell you, and those who matter, they might not always know how. At the end of the day it doesn’t even really matter how you come to figure yourself out. We all fall sometimes, I’m just trying to figure out how to do it a bit more gracefully, a little less like a rolling stone.
Thank You C.O.S.
