I am sitting in the kitchen munching on organic almond and raisin muesli and seeds. It's all can think to eat. Anything else just seems wrong. You see, I have just spent an hour and half in a rather intense yoga classs... and it feels GOOD! December saw me take my last yoga class in the Grand Rapids YMCA with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the city. Since then I haven't done any yoga. I have to admit, I was nervous at first - would I remember the moves? Would I just get cramp? Would I seize up, fall over, or trip? Reality was much more kind than that! I actually managed the whole class! It wasn't perfect, and there are a few things I need to practice, but I am apparently less out shape than I thought. Hooray!
Tonight was a milestone in the move for me. I started doing yoga while I was in the States and it is there I developed a love for it. This evening, I felt as though I had come home. I was back in a familiar routine. Filling the Nalgene bottle and inevitably spilling the water. Pulling on my old grey yoga bottoms. Pulling my hair back. Shuffling along the road in my slip-on 'earthy' shoes with my mat bundled under my arm. Standing on the edge of the mat with the scent of essential oils shimmering through my sinuses. Bending my body into shapes, poses, an twists. It all felt delightful. I feel more like 'me' tonight. Of course, there is every chance I will be in intense pain tomorrow when I wake up, but I am armed with a hot water botle and Ibuprofen!
I was shaped during my time in the USA and sometimes I forget that. There are things that I grew into that made me more who God created me to be. Tonight I was reminded of this as I re-entered the world of Yoga - which found me in the States. It's easy to wander into life here and segregate the Fiona from the USA from the UK, but that would short-change my time and experience there. I believe I am to solder both lives together and continute to grow, and be shaped.
Isn't this what we followers of Jesus often do? We hold our faith in one hand - our spiritual lives, our love for God - and in the other, we hold on to the bits of our lives that we're not willing to integrate with our faith. Grafting our lives into our faith is what we are called to do and it's only when we do it that we are fully alive in faith and life.
