salt+light

About a year ago, I started sponsoring Ivette, a 14-year-old girl from Burkina Faso, through Compassion Canada. Being able to provide her with some financial support has been great but my favourite part has been the letters.

I send her photos of my family and friends and she draws pictures for me. She tells me about her school and her family while I write about the fact that it's likely never going to stop snowing in New Brunswick this winter. I share scripture that's been inspiring me lately and she asks me to pray for her and her family.

I'm used to getting a lot of questions about my family, about my job, about my cat (yes. I have sent her photos of Lyla), but the question that came with the latest letter I received surprised me.

"What do you think about being the salt and the light in daily life?"

Though you see this world in me, you know all that I can be

and I am precious in your sight. 

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Matthew 5:13

I really like salt. A lot.

Given the choice between a bag of chips or a chocolate bar, I will always, always choose chips. Although I've taken steps to scale back the sodium in my diet over the last few years, salt is one of my favourite seasonings. It's simple and flavourful at the same time. What more could you ask for?

The only thing I don't like about salt is the thirst. It kicks in about half way through the process of devouring a large bag of theatre popcorn and suddenly, the ginormous cup filled with iced tea that came with the combo is too small.

Considering these two traits of salt, it makes sense to me that Jesus would want us to be the salt of the earth and not the basil or the thyme or the paprika. I think sometimes people get the wrong idea about what it means to be a Christian - they think it's this boring life where you can't say or do anything fun and exciting. Maybe that's true for some people, but that hasn't been my experience. Having a relationship with Christ has enriched my life. It's changed the ways I interact with and relate to others. It's jumped started my creativity and brought a calm to my otherwise chaotic life.  It's made me think about my priorities, about the way I spend my time (and money) and make changes that have boosted my happiness because they're more true to the person I am.

My life isn't perfect, but it's blessed and far from boring. My flavour is happiness and joy and peace, all three a direct result of where I've put my faith and trust. None of these flavours should be subtle, either; they should be prominent and pleasing to anyone who comes in contact with them.

And what we're reflecting through our thoughts and actions every day should make others thirst for more.

***

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid/ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house/ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 5: 14-16

My partner likes to sleep with the curtains in our bedroom drawn shut.

We live on the top floor of our building with all our windows facing the parking lot of a high school where a street light of sorts is on all through the evening. The curtains fall somewhere between seafoam and evergreen and they're thick and heavy.

My partner likes to close them because they block out all the light and make it easier to for him to sleep.  I dislike having them closed because when all the light is blocked out, I find it hard to wake up in the morning.

I need morning light to get me going in the morning. I'll never be one of those people who can wake up on time without an alarm clock, but light cutting through the darkness tells me it's time for a new day.

That's the thing about light - it dispels the dark and warms those it reaches. It brings us back to life and helps things grow. It brings clarity and understanding.

Jesus was the light of the world and he calls on his followers to be the same. He wants us to be people who dispel the darkness and who warm those who reach us. He wants us to fight back against ignorance and prejudice and selfishness. He want us to shine light on who he is through our thoughts, actions and words.

He wants us to stop hitting the snooze button and go and live and thrive.

***

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me/ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it/ For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16: 24-26

I guess the short answer to the question - what do you think about being the salt and the light in daily life - is "a lot." I'm not sure how I'm going to condense these thoughts when I sit down to write my letter to Ivette, but hopefully whatever I come up with will be in the spirit of the question.

If not...well, hopefully she'll enjoy the stickers.

Jesus, help us carry you. Alive in us, your light shines through.

With every act of love we bring the Kingdom come. 

six lessons from that time I did 30 yoga classes in 30 days.

Yesterday I did my first hot yoga class in eight days.

During those eight days, I practiced once (a hatha/yin class) but it was at my gym, not the downtown studio I frequent. In fact, I didn't go downtown at all during those eight days.

It wasn't an accident or the result of being busy. It was a decision I made intentionally when I left the studio on March 2 after completing my first 30 day challenge.

The concept of the 30 day challenge is pretty simple: 30 practices in 30 days. The studio I go to hosts these challenges on a semi-regular basis but I've always had a reason to not commit to it, the biggest one being work. The hours at the studio don't always work with my job, working the weekend shift is basically like being on call, etc.

But when January rolled around and the sign up sheet for the next challenge came out, I really felt like it was something I had to do so I signed up before I could change my mind.
And somehow, I managed to make it work. It wasn't easy - coming into the last week of the challenge, I had a lot of classes to make up, my skin and hair were freaking out from spending hours at a time in the hot room to catch up and all my body wanted to do was rest.

So, as my partner and I drove to Moncton after that last class, I made a decision to give my body what it was asking for while taking some time to reflect on the challenge.

What I learned from the 30 day challenge.

I really love BodyJam

BodyJam 67 - DeathJam. So. Much. Fun.

The toughest part of the challenge for me was when I realized, coming into the last week of the challenge, I had to do 11 classes in six days. Not only did that mean spending up to two hours in the hot room at a time some nights, it meant skipping the one other class I kept doing throughout the challenge - BodyJam.

BodyJam is easily my favourite group exercise class. After a truly terrible experience with BodyStep, I decided to try Jam on a whim one night a couple years ago and I've been going regularly ever since. What I like about Jam is there's no right or wrong - it's all about having fun so it's accessible at any skill level. Going to Jam regularly has given me a lot more confidence and my co-ordination has improved a lot, too (which made my subsequent BodyStep experiences positive ones).

Missing Jam to make up classes sucked. Although I've never left my mat thinking 'Man, I sure wish I hadn't gone to that yoga class!' there was a part of me that would have rather been dancing. Also, there were a couple times when I had to fit a practice in AFTER Jam and those classes were physically challenging.

I like variety when it comes to fitness

I didn't miss any other activity I do regularly the way I missed BodyJam when I skipped it for a yoga class, but I can say the thing I found myself looking forward to most coming into the last days of the challenge was re-integrated other classes into my routine. As I mentioned above, I decided early in the challenge that once it was finished, I would take a few days off to relax before getting back into it, so the next step will be figuring out what I want to do for fitness. I'm not totally sure what it will look like yet, but I do know it will involve a better mix of cardio/strength/flexibility.

It's OK to 'take it easy' sometimes

Listen to your body and take rest/water when you need it - these are the instructions given at the start of every class at the hot studio where I practice but I didn't really think too much of them until the challenge.

There were nights when, after an hour and a half of practice, there was no way I was going to be able to kick back in dancer or get to the depth of my lunge in warrior two. There were times when 'moving through one last flow on your own breath' was 'remain in downward dog.' And there were times when staying for 'five extra breaths' in savasana at the end of class just wasn't going to be possible.

I like being able to push and challenge myself so not being able to go my edge every class was a challenge for me. But it was also humbling and helped me take that simple advice from the start of class seriously for the first time since I started practicing three years ago.

Another fine example of "listening to your body and taking rest when you need it" happened the night I intentionally skipped a class in favour of reading in the bath. 

Big improvements happen when you let go of your ego

Back in the fall, an instructor I didn't have a lot of previous exposure to made an observation that changed a lot of things about my practice. It was a small, evening class, maybe eight or 10 people in the room, and we were going through a series of flows - downward dog, plank, chaturanga, upward facing dog. Three flows in, the instructor approached and quietly offered the advice to work from the knees and flow into cobra instead of upward facing dog.

In other words, take a modified flow instead of a full flow.

At this point, I had been practicing yoga regularly for more than three years and I'll admit it: at first I was a bit miffed by the suggestion. To me, choosing a modified option was choosing an easier option. Not to mention it seemed odd to me that in three years, no other instructor had ever suggested that might be a better option for me. Why would I listen to an instructor I'd taken a grand total of like, two classes with?

Yeah, talk about stubborn, ego-fueled thinking.

Between talking to the instructor after class about the suggestion and my own reading on the subject after class, her suggestion was absolutely the right one to make for me because, as it turned out, I had  actually been doing chaturanga wrong for YEARS without knowing it. Downward dog, plank and upward facing dog were easy enough for me, but I did not (and still do not) have the upper body strength to properly do chaturanga.

But practicing a modified flow can help me get there some day.

I've been doing modified flows instead of full flows for months now and I've noticed a big difference as a result. I'm still not ready for the full flow yet but my transitions have become much cleaner, much more fluid. And honestly, if you're doing a modified flow properly? It's not an 'easier' option - physically or for the ego. Remembering easy doesn't really exist when it comes to yoga was important for me during the challenge.

Excuses are just that.

I did not think I could do a 30 day challenge. My job is unpredictable and my schedule often conflicts with the hours at the studio.  Some days, the only class I would be able to make it to was one I 'couldn't' do (like a flow class); some nights, the roads would be terrible because winter in New Brunswick sucks like that and I don't like driving when it's terrible out.

These were the reasons I gave myself for not participating in challenges in the past and I was ready to apply them again this time...until the charts went up and I started questioning:

Sure, the hours at the studio don't always line up with my schedule, but if I combined my hot studio practice with my regular hatha/yin practice at the gym, could I fit in 30 hours?

Yeah, a flow class would be challenging, but I've been doing Moksha for about a year. My body could probably handle it and it might be good to add some variety to my practice.

Driving in the winter sucks, but it's not like I live far from the studio (and if all else fails, my partner could likely drive me down).

My job is unpredictable, but I cannot let that rule my life. I love my job but I am not my job. 

That's not to say these things didn't have an impact on the challenge once it started but it felt a lot better living in a world governed by things that were happened instead of things that could happen.

It's OK to take time for myself 

Considering the incredibly social nature of my job, people are always surprised by how much I like my solitude. When I'm not working, I can be very selfish with my personal time, to an extent that I often feel kind of bad about it.

During my hatha/yin classes, the instructor always starts the class by saying 'the next hour is all about you' before encouraging us to forget about the rest of the day and be present - something I struggle with daily while trying to balance everything.

Reaching the last week of the 30 day challenge with so many classes to catch up forced me to take the time I needed for myself to accomplish the goal I had set - to recognize that goal as important and to do what needs to be done to achieve it understanding there's nothing selfish about having personal goals that require time and attention to achieve. This was easily the most important lesson of the whole challenge for me.

There's probably more I could have said about the challenge, but I think this covers the most important points. I don't really write posts like this, preferring to focus more on faith and stories and all that, but yoga is a pretty big part of my daily/spiritual life and actually completing a 30 day challenge was a big deal for me so I figured it was worth noting.