Heart of the Village Yoga

A New Year offers a fresh start filled with hopes, promises and goals. The New Year, can also bring despair, guilt, shame and loss of faith.  The dualities of life, show up in our thoughts, words and actions. Often times we examine our lives to find new ways of looking at a “habit” or a problem we can’t seem to kick. These “habits”may change over time and morph into addictive behaviors that control our lives.

In the book “Breathing Under Water”, Richard Rohr speaks to this very issue. “We cannot stop the drowning waters of our addictive culture from rising, but we must at least see our reality for what it is, seek to properly detach from it and build a coral castle and learn to breath under water. The New Testament called it salvation or enlightenment, The Twelve Step Program called it recovery.”

Millions of Americans suffer from addiction to drugs and alcohol. Often we cannot escape our own mind and the thousands of thoughts and ideas that run through it on a daily basis. 12-Step Programs offer guiding principles outlining a course of action for tackling addiction. In the same regard, for thousands of years, people have practiced daily yoga poses, prayers, chanting and meditation and found relief from life’s challenges. The ultimate goal being quieting the mind, as written in Patanjali’s “Yoga Sutras”. These ancient teachings speak of balancing the central nervous system, the same system that is compromised by addictive behavior.

The combination of both a 12-Step Meeting followed by a Yoga class, is the very foundation of Y12SR. Y12SR is a rich and powerful framework for integrating the wisdom of yoga and the practical tools of 12-step programs.

This January, rewrite the words, thoughts and actions that roam through you and define your being. This is the time to reflect, to repair and start new. Join us at Heart of the Village Yoga, 5:30 – 7:pm, Tuesday: January 26 – March 1 and participate in a Y12SR Meeting.  Click here for more information and to register.

By Lisa Brand