flow

flow

For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. [Jeremiah 29:11]

For we know that He works all things together for good for those who love him and are called to his purposes [Romans 8:28]

Did you know that the word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’ meaning: ‘to join, to yoke to, or to unite’. In traditional yoga philosophy the goal of your yoga practice is to help one reach Samadhi and Moksha again, Sanskrit for enlightenment: union with “the divine” and (moksha) freedom: from suffering. Where ever we look there is something or someone offering those exact things (enlightenment/freedom); and like all enticing things the world has to offer: sex, drugs, money— they can only offer an escape. Religion tries to offer an answer. Jesus on the other hand comes and offers a way through it. 

In the lead up to what Jesus knew would be His most painful, unexpected life experience, He cried out, ‘Abba Father, please take this cup of suffering from me; however not my will but Yours’. [Luke 22:42] His friends could never have foreseen just how far south his arrest for upsetting the political peace was going to go,  and yet rather than try escape what He knew was coming, Jesus cried out to His Dad and surrendered to His will. Salvation through surrender. 2000 or so years later the method hasn’t changed. As the common phrase goes, ‘to grow through what we go through’, to experience this life with all its ups and downs, sufferings and joys— through it all, the only way through, is to surrender to God.  Surrender to the one who knows the plans He has for you. 

Beloved let yourself be swept up in the flow of His grace towards you. As you let go and surrender, you receive something much more priceless in return. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” [John 14:27]. The word for peace in Hebrew is shalom and it means more than just ‘peace’. It is a coming together of everything exactly as it should, exactly as it was meant to be: completeness. A deep wholeness, transcendent ease and harmony not just between yourself and God but also with those around you and your life, exactly as it is, exactly as you are in it. Shalom is God’s gift to you or as I like to think of it powerful peace.

I remember coming to university, already feeling like I was starting life with the odds stacked against me. After all, I had come through clearing. I can see that bright blue September day in my minds eye so clearly, little 18 year old me, with all my suitcases, walking around campus with my brother, my sister and my mum; it was a big milestone, I was the first  one leaving home. I shared my reservations with my mum telling her how I was sad that maybe I was living a plan B life because things hadn’t turned out the way I had planned them to. She simply smiled and said ‘Don’t worry Ennette, there’ll be a sign. God is always good and nothing is ever an accident, trust that He knows what He’s doing - even if you feel like you don’t.” Even today, I remember this moment so vividly. As we rounded the corner to get to my halls of residence for the next year there was literally ironically a sign that read: “your future is here”. My mum looked at me and grinned wide ‘See Ennette? I told you: your future is here, don’t worry’. I definitely could not have foreseen then what my life is now and how truly this place was where my whole future was going to happen.

The gravity of that moment and that memory, only holds weight because of the one who holds it all, “And He Himself [God], existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.] Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place” [Colossians 1:17 Good News translation and the Amplified Bible translation]. 

A common affirmation I hear is ‘trust the process, trust the universe, things will work out the way they are meant to.’ Beloved we know The One who made the universe. I trust him,  therefore I can trust that whatever is happening to me, is happening for a reason. Affirmations like this one and others like it have so much power but only if that power is grounded in the truth of who God is: someone who is incredibly invested in your future and wants to give you an unshakeable, powerful peace-filled hope, for that future.

So why not live as if the odds are stacked in your favour because the truth is Beloved, they are. Trust the ebb and flow and unforced rhythm of God’s grace. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. You will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28]

I come to this passage a lot in life especially during this (fun but largely unknown) season of my life starting a yoga business. There is a lot to learn and juggle and I want a yoke that is lighter than mine. I want to be united and tied to a way of doing life that is unforced and goes with the flow. I want shalom in its truest sense: where I do not have to hustle and strive. Where do I not have to enter every room or conversation trying to pretend or impress, prove or perform. I hope the people that will find their way to my classes in the future online and in person form a community of people who truly come-yoga: come-in-UNITY, coming together in unity. Where the things we cannot control, the unexpected twists and turns of life are not events that cause us shame or anxiety but rather are moments of Divine intervention. Where if stitch by stitch we fall apart, that brokenness becomes our life’s work of art. 

My prayer for myself and you Beloved is that we allow the things we cannot control to flow through us and change us shape us and transform our hearts to be softer bigger more open hearted people. In yoga just as in my faith there is a desire to accept and embrace the things I cannot control; and I love that both can point me to a person who is all knowing and totally trustworthy who has my best interests at heart even more than i do. As we bring our awareness to our breath, life giving oxygen coming into our lungs, carbon dioxide out, our attention and awareness is also brought back to The One who is sustaining not just me or you but the whole universe— the very breath of God flowing in and out of your life, leading and directing your steps. trust that wherever you are at this exact moment God is holding your entire being together, working not just in your present but your future also he will get you where you need to be like a master weaver your heavenly father is weaving together the many threads of your life no matter how tangled and in disrepair they may look to you) to make a beautiful tapestry.

Lord may we live in ever more present awareness of your grace, in ever more awareness of  the economy of mercy that flows  so lavishly in our lives, may we live in ever more present awareness of your kingdom invading earth, invading my personal world. May our lives be holy conduits for your Presence and Power to move and impact the world around us...

breath in

grace and ease, with our bodies, our lives and our selves- finding even greater ‘shalom’ with exactly who are in Gods image, exactly how we are never too much or too little but always enough and finally finding even greater shalom with exactly where we are in our journey towards eternity thank you God that you don’t care about the destination. 

breath out

ease and grace, towards ourselves and others. May we extend to others the exact same kindness we would want to show ourselves, blessing those persons we may encounter today with the gift of acceptance for exactly who they are how they are where they are. 

Enjoy your practice! (its a lovely little 22mins long)

ImagoDei Wellbeing & Yoga meditation flow (it’s 27mins long) 

(Christ-)Mindful Tip:

Eagle pose.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

If you on your mat in this posture distracted and overwhelmed my the twists and turns that your limbs need to make in order to stay in the pose. take heart. those same twists and turns that life can take, that cause us to feel distracted off course and overwhelmed are just as much under the strength and control of God as you are in this moment in control of your strength and stability finding flexibility in your limbs as you balance. God who does not grow weary or tired (even as you wobble and fall out of eagle pose a million and one times), is working in your life to create a beautiful shape out of many elements of your life. He will give you strength to not just get through it but grow through it. His understanding and His ways of doing things are so different from our limited human perspective. He has the eagle eye view over your life and like an eagle he will help you to soar where you may feel like you are falling. He will replenish and renew your energy. All you need to do is hope in Him. 

Life is but a weaving

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me.

I cannot choose the colors

He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;

And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper

And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas

And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives the very best to those

Who leave the choice to Him.

[Corrie ten Boom]