In February, we began our study of the original yoga knowledge, and building a bridge to our JudeoChristian traditions. The 196 yoga sutras, or little lessons, were compiled some 500-800 years before Christ. You can find many translations and interpretations on the Internet for free if you'd like to follow along. Sanskrit is hard to translate into English. However, I enjoy these two translations as the commentators often set the lessons in a Christian context. Here are my picks for the best two:

 

We WILL be meeting on the next two Saturdays, however. I'll be away on a writing vacation.

 

Good to see Dr. Warren Goux return to the yoga studio after time away training for his long bike rides. "We need more men to get involved with yoga," he exclaimed Monday night. We do have one opening on Saturday morning. E-mail me at sarah@redeemingyoga.com if you are interested.

This series of sutras focuses on different techniques to calm the mind and free it from the human constraints of anxiety, stress, fear, anger, or depression. Yoga philosophy is grounded in the idea that there is one God and that God can be known. According to the commentators in How to Know God, "One of the most attractive characteristics of Patanjali's philosophy is its breadth of vision, its universality. There is no attempt here to impose any particular cult upon the spiritual aspirant. God is within us, and it is by the light of his presence--no matter how dimly it shines through the layers of our ignorance--that we fashion our own pictures and symbols of goodness and project them upon the outside world." The issue of sacred symbols can be tricky in a Christian context. Some denominations cram so many gilded symbols inside a sanctuary that it makes it difficult to concentrate! Others believe the Word of God to be the only decoration suitable in a place of worship. Back to the sutra lesson, I'm sure you have an idea of a special place, object, person or book that appeals to you as a present manifestation of God here on earth.

 

Bible Study: Psalm 48  (from BibleGateway.com)

All of Psalm 48 is a meditation upon the splendor of a most sacred place just outside of Jerusalem. For you history buffs, Zaphon had long been considered a holy mountain where gods dwell, and sits far north of Israel on the Syrian-Turkish border.

Learning to calm one's mind is a discipline required for more in-depth spiritual growth. The lesson today is just one technique you can try to do that. I have a favorite place I will forever hold in my mind that I often turn to in meditation, and that is one of the serene rooms painted with frescoes by Fra Angelico in the San Marco monastery in Florence (above). Do you have a spot?

Up Dog is a pose that isn't done very often in most yoga classes, yet I enjoy it as a challenging step up from Cobra. You actually cannot see it in the photo below, but you push your thighs up from the floor, balancing on your feet. Many of my students have problems with the top of their feet being too tender for poses such as this and Hero. If that's a problem for you, try doubling your mat underneath your feet. 

For instructions on this pose, click here (photo and instructions courtesy of Yoga Journal).