Yoga For Everybody
by Lynn Felder, R.Y.T.

"If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred." - Walt Whitman

On a glorious Memorial Day weekend, about 30 people of various sizes, shapes and physical abilities lay on their bellies under an open canvas tarp in a field near Black Mountain, N.C. Supported from below by Mother Earth and nourished from above by Father Sky, we lay on sheets, blankets and yoga mats, our left legs tucked under our chests and our right legs stretched out behind us in a variation on the Yoga posture known as "pigeon."

I don't know what the other students were thinking, but two years after this particular class, I can still remember my exact feelings and thoughts about the experience and about the Yogi, Stephanie Keach, who was teaching the Flow Yoga class at the Lake Eden Arts Festival: "She must be crazy. I can't do this. Doesn't she know I've had cancer? (How could she have?) My muscles are weak; my joints are stiff. Doesn't she know this is TOO HARD? I can't possibly stay in this position a second longer!" I squirmed. As if reading my thoughts, Stephanie's voice, gently edged with humor - soft but also commanding and insistent - countered my unspoken protests. "Don't listen to your Monkey Mind, telling you that you can't hold the pose. Surrender to gravity. Let go of resistance . . . imagine that your hips are made of Silly Putty, and that you are melting, melting into the Earth . . .Breathe," she invited. So I lay there . . . And breathed. And noticed the blades of grass, the May wind, the slight release of the tight muscles of my hip, the even slighter quieting of my "Monkey Mind". And before infinity had passed, Stephanie's voice led us into another posture, then another, precisely instructing us how to flex a foot, extend an arm, lengthen our necks, lift our ribcages away from our pelvises, open our chests, and always, always, "Breathe." By the end of the hour-long class, my intermittent discomfort had dissolved, and I arose from savasana, the relaxation that completes every Yoga class, feeling refreshed, renewed, energized and reborn.

Yoga was developed about 5,000 years ago in India as a science of health and a way to attain enlightenment. It is not a religion, but it is deeply spiritual and offers philosophical wisdom for every aspect of daily life. Yoga practice teaches you how to be in the present moment, to move your awareness into your physical body and stay there long enough to quiet your mind and open your heart. These are the lessons, the challenges and the benefits of Yoga: a vibrant body, a quiet mind and an open heart. It is highly inadvisable to begin a Yoga practice without a competent teacher. Like dance, Yoga is most authentically transmitted on a human-to-human basis. A qualified teacher will show you proper alignment, explain Yogic principles, help you establish good habits from the very start and avoid injury.

Almost everyone can benefit from Yoga. There are a number of qualified teachers in the Piedmont Triad, and the best way to find one is through word of mouth. Talk with other students to find out if their experience sounds like something you would like. Web sites, such as yogaalliance.org, yogajournal.com and yimag.org, can also tell you how to find teachers in this area.

I had lived most of my life in a healthy body. I had practiced Yoga off and on since I was a teen-ager, trained as a dancer, taken gymnastics, bicycled, ocean-kayaked. I even ran for a few years. But nearly four years ago, ovarian cancer and surgery, followed by about six months of chemotherapy robbed me of my muscular strength, stiffened my joints and dissipated my once-prodigious energy. While still getting chemotherapy treatments, I began taking slow, gentle Yoga classes. I have gradually increased the vigor and intensity of my practice and regained much of my strength and flexibility, but, more importantly, I have learned powerful lessons about humility and kindness.

If you are weak, Yoga can make you strong. If you are strong, Yoga can make you stronger - and introduce you to your vulnerability. If you are flexible, Yoga can make you stable. If you are stiff, Yoga can make you flexible - in body, mind and spirit.

Cancer tried to take away my body, and Yoga helped me to get it back. Having consciously entered the 5,000-year-old stream of Yoga, I know that whatever comes next - be it health or illness, life or death - my practice is helping me create the best human experience that I can possibly have at this moment in time.

Lynn Felder received her teacher training under the direction of Stephanie Keach at the Asheville Yoga Center and is certified to teach by the National Yoga Alliance. She has studied with many Yogis including Ana Forrest, Rod Stryker, Susan Powers, Saul David Raye. Her school, the Arts of Yoga, is located at Twin City Yoga, 1008 Brookstown Ave., Winston-Salem, NC. Lynn is an award-winning journalist who has written for newspapers and magazines for nearly 20 years. For information, call 336-748-8436.