It's a ZEN Thing

So I think the universe might be conspiring to make me examine (re-examine?) my spiritual side. Before you go screaming from the room, knocking your computer off in your haste to escape, this is NOT a preachy post or even a religious post. Just a rumination on some thoughts occupying a pretty significant space in my mind these days...

It all started a couple of weeks ago when my Mom came to Chicago for a fun girls weekend (the hubby was out of town for work). At her request, we went to church (let's just say I hadn't been in, um, awhile prior to that) and although I was kind of expecting the priest to be kind of lame and preachy (and maybe even a little boring), he wasn't. He turned out to be pretty cool and had this great sermon about choice and life path and something about weeds versus wheat (sorry Mom, I'm not good with the biblical references). Anywho, I really related and just kind of got what he was saying. So I started thinking about maybe returning to more of a normal schedule as it relates to the practice of faith...

And then last week, I finally picked up the copy of Eat, Pray, Love that I bought months ago but keep putting off because there is some other book I need to read first. I know I'm way behind the times on this one and everyone else who doesn't live under a rock has already read it, but I just started and I'm digging it so far. I happen to be smack in the middle of her journey in India which of course focuses on Enlightenment and seeking your spiritual self and a good relationship with your God (whomever he or she may be)...and in particular, she talks alot about meditation (I don't get it - no clue how in the hell I'd ever quiet my mind), chanting (don't get it and don't want to get it - I just sort of find it odd) and yoga (have always had a yoga-crush from afar and really want to get it).

Now I must confess that I've always sort of thought of yoga in the context of physical fitness. Sure, I know it is supposed to be relaxing, a great stress reliever and really very "zen," but seriously...the biggest benefit I've ever thought it would give me was a longer, leaner, more flexible shape kinda like Jennifer Aniston (stop laughing). But, as it turns out, Yoga is deeply rooted in all things spiritual.

Fast forward to this weekend and the very first attempt for Hubby and me to do Yoga at our gym. Now, he is very athletic and I am nothing if not prepared, so we rushed to Sports Authority and bought Yoga mats (a word of advice...spring for the more expensive versions at lululemon or some other yoga smart place cuz it turns out you actually NEED that tread they talk so much about)and then rushed home and looked up yoga poses online so we could practice. He ran through them with me, I ran through them with him, and then tada, we were totally ready for our class.

Yoga is HARD. I mean really hard. There I was all twisted like a pretzel with the world's nicest yoga teacher (didn't make fun of me at all - just came over and adjusted my placement on the mat so I felt the right way to do things), sweating like no other (it's crazy hot in there)and trying to think of how this could EVER be spiritual?! Well the class was 60 minutes, so after the first 20 or so when I was kina nervous and pretty much obsessively checking out my poses in the mirror to see how dumb I looked, I decided to LISTEN to our teacher (very soothing voice) and really try to connect the movements with my breath. Pretty cool result...I could sink lower into the poses and hold them much more steadily, but most important - I tuned out everyone around me (huge for me) and just paid attention to my own experience. At the end, I really did feel this odd sense of calm, like "I'm ready to start the week - bring it on."

This morning, I felt really sore and like I need 30 more minutes of sleep, but whatever...for that brief moment, I really did feel...connected.

To bring this full circle before your heads explode, now I'm thinking you can be spiritual in many more places than church and that, for me, it is more about exploring connectedness than anything else. And I find it pretty cool, that even for a brief time in the middle of a room crammed with sweaty people, I could be quiet enough to connect mind and breath with movement - really weird how much my brain needed that little break.

So next Sunday you know where to find me - in the back of the sweaty yoga room getting connected and feeling zen - on my new lululemon mat with great TREAD. Namaste ya'll!