By Lisa Wellington

[photopress:Lisa_Wellington.jpg,thumb,alignright]Lisa is an ordinary artist, entrepreneur, writer, traveler and recovering Class Clown who revels in all things creative. Currently, she is embedded as an Investigative Assistant in a local law enforcement agency where she awaits the release of the book she threatens to write. Raised in all ways Catholic, she now and for the duration finds solace and joy at Vineyard Community Church. She is a “single mother from the beginning” of her only child, Rebecca. Life is richer and sweeter because of her. Their hometown is Edmonds, Washington. You can reach her at here. Beginning next month Lisa will be the Editor of our new Doable Spirituality Blog. This article will give you a small taste of what to expect.

I had hoped to avoid this class but realized I was out of viable excuses. I laid down my mat next to my daughter’s and prepared myself for an hour of ‘gentle yoga’. Our instructor, a lean, petite Asian woman with the sweetest presence, guided us with closed eyes in a cross-legged seated position.

“Quiet your mind and gently breathe.” She said in a soothing voice “Think about your intention for tonight’s session. What would you like to focus on?” I thought for a moment and decided I wanted to just be open and listen to God, be aware of my body, and not to fall over or fart. To help me feel connected to God I imagined Jesus on a mat to the left of me, my daughter to the right. I prayed none of us would embarrass ourselves too much.

As I moved from one position to another, I began to remember my years of classical dance training. It had been years since I took a ballet class but something similar resonated here. Dance is always about opening up the body. Our strong and lithe instructor reminded us to pull our shoulders back, open the ribcage, lengthen the spine; always lengthen the spine. It felt good and my body remembered.

I centered myself and struggled to find balance. I wondered where in my life I needed more balance. When an arm felt pinched, I prayed that I am not inadvertently pinching the feelings of someone I care for. And when I needed to open my chest more and breathe I asked myself where it is that I’m not opening my heart enough and showing more compassion to myself and others. Breathe in God, breath out tension.

In the way that a good massage can hurt before it feels better, these positions pushed me to my limits. Not my daughter, however. No, she was now in the “advanced students” version of a position I can’t pronounce. I shall call it “Twisted Fig Tree”. You get the picture. I looked on with amazement and a hint of melancholy as my eyes traced her macraméd limbs. She studied her bangs in the mirror unimpressed by her crowning achievement. While she was given a body with the flexibility of a licorice whip, I felt like a stiff stick of gum left in its wrapper too long.

As I struck the next pose, I wondered about Jesus and his mysterious years traveling. I don’t know why I was thinking this but it was part of my session’s ‘intention’ so I went with it. I was curious if he practiced these meditative positions to relieve lower back pain or maybe sense God more vividly. I wished he had left a fabulous leather-bound journal in an ancient pot somewhere with copious notes about favorite baristas he encountered during his adventure; or a memorable café that served perfectly curried chicken; or who he taught, who he learned from, or perhaps, how he managed to hold this crazy position without passing out.

“Jesus! My hamstrings are killing me! Can you feel that too?” I screamed silently. Jesus seemed to ignore me as he gracefully struck the inverted V “downward dog” position, his feet and hands planted firmly on the floor. “Just breathe and center yourself and don’t bug me right now,” he said. “I’m trying to stretch-out here.” I love my imagineerings of Jesus.

Our last few minutes were spent in the splendor of total relaxation. We stretched out our bodies on the floor, arms overhead; body, mind, and spirit rejuvenated, unscathed by any embarrassing moments. The instructor cooed, “…and now in a seated cross-legged position with your hands palm-up on top of your knees breathe quietly in and exhale. Slowly open your eyes and…release.