Now that I’m going away, I look at my world from new eyes; it’s a wonderful by-product of imminent departure. Each habit, friendship, and choice becomes shiny and dear.
Suddenly, I’m seeing the stories I haven’t told, glimpses into the glory of the people around me that I haven’t taken the trouble to paint. They have been too enmeshed with the everyday for me to bother telling them. I still have three weeks, though, and maybe I’ll find the time to do so here; perhaps it will even aid me in the interior process of closing out my last years here in Kansas City.
Today: a treat.
I have loved many things in these last years; there are rituals I’ve hardly noticed built into my life. One of them, for two years or so, has been that of Wednesday night yoga. Those of you who have committed to yoga over a long period can probably attest to its many benefits and wonders, and I will gladly join the choir and sing its praises. But it’s my yoga instructor that has made this process human.
Bernie’s class is called “Yoga is for Every Body,” and you might scoff at that title until you experience his first class. He’s not the typical yogi, being middle-aged, tall, large of build and pot-bellied; oftentimes he reaches up in a posture and we participants glimpse not a tiny swath of hairy belly. This is offset by clear, light eyes characterized by peace, and a somehow twisty grin. Clearly Bernie’s unique physique creates a certain permission, because there are people sweating it out every week of all shapes and sizes and levels of skill, many of whom I’ve never spied at the gym itself.
A more earnest, gentle yoga instructor I would be shocked to find. Every once and a while, Bernie references a physically difficult past, back problems from working full-time in retail, tinged with an unspoken-of hint of sadness and depression. Yoga changed his body, changed his mind, and changed his life. He’s a believer to the core. But also not a zealot—Bernie’s instructions toward the spiritual aspect of the practice are intentionally open so as to allow his students to “apply whatever faith” they practice. Many a time I have felt the Holy Spirit’s presence like a gentle nudge or a physical tingle, as Bernie has posed a question or directed our focus Above. Principles of balance and connectedness that could be alienating if forced have enriched my faith and beautified my life.
I love about Bernie that he’s a whole, inter-connected, balanced person himself. He nonchalantly mentions his full-time finance desk job one day. Then, every now and again he’ll reference the fact that he’s an artist, represented by Kansas City’s Blue Gallery. He can stand on his knees in lotus pose for several seconds (one of his favorite yoga masters says you should be “elated” if you can do this for 3). And the guy is a mental music library, making kick-ass mixes to set his class to. Though the mixes change, this one is always on it, and I will leave you to the chills of comfort and peace it should send through you.
Find more songs like Stronger Hand at Myspace Music
image: Within every one of us there is a heaven, painting by Bernal Koehrsen
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