Saturday, December 31, 2016

From Yoga, I Reach



From Yoga, I Reach

My feet.
My feet pressing firmly into my mat,
I know the smooth, the sticky, and the grit.
I know the Earth beneath me.
Pressing firmly into my past,
I know the heartache, the soul-ache, the life-ache.
From my feet, I reach. 

My legs.
I hug in from my skin, to my muscle, to my bones.
The same bones I have, in past, forgotten.
The same bones, from which I have asked too much.
The same bones I have stressed to break.
From my bones, I reach.

My belly.  
With feet grounded and legs strong,
I find the very core of me.
I pull in and up.
I lift my place of first connection to my heart.
From the place where I know things,
when I really know.
From my belly, I reach. 

My lungs.
With my lungs, I breathe 
The breath of life.
I breathe the outside in and inside out.
I am my breath.
Big belly breaths from my feet to my fingers.
From my breath, I reach.

My heart.
Dhakdak, beat. Dhakdhak, beat.
My heart carries the world through my veins
And takes me to the world.
I reach into my heart,
My place of second, and third, and fourth,
And all connections.
From my heart, I reach.

My throat.
I speak here.
I feel words both spoken and unspoken.
I feel the words that strangle me with their urgency.
I feel the words that close off my breath with regret.
Here, now, from yoga, I reach.
My voice feels free and true
Anchored to my feet, bones, belly, and heart.
From my voice. I reach.

My thoughts.
For so long, I thought they were me.
Each one, me.
This me of thoughts floated, struggled.
 Was deeply sculpted and cut by
All of the words.
From yoga, I see thoughts are not mine.
I choose the ones I want to hold.
I free the rest.
From my thoughts, I reach.

My feet.
My bones.
My belly.
My heart.
My lungs.
My voice.
My thoughts.

From yoga, I reach.

My arms extend from my core.
My eyes look upward.

Knowing what is me and what is not me.
Embracing my pains and joy, past and present.
Digging into the beauty and truth of this moment.

From yoga, I reach.


The Yoga Bag
Catherine Cook-Cottone






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