Archive for June, 2010
Direct vs. Indirect
As I like to keep this Yoga Matrika blog focused on yoga and take a mindful approach to all issues, I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to bring this highly charged issue to the blog. I decided to bring it here, not to have a debate on abortion—right or wrong? Legal or illegal? Instead, I wanted to question and explore what happens when we fail to use all of our intelligence to consider challenging questions. The original posting is below and it is from the Women’s Health Policy Report that is put out weekly by the National Partnership for Women and Families.
The issue in the article, in case what I have already said has infuriated you or led you to believe that you don’t want to or just can’t read any further, is that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made a clarification on abortion. Direct abortion is when you terminate a pregnancy for the only purpose of terminating the pregnancy. In summary, direct=bad, very bad, super bad. Indirect is when a pregnancy is terminated in order to save the life of the mother. In summary, indirect=bad, very bad, super bad, but allowable in extraordinary circumstances.
When I read this, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Part of me wanted to laugh out loud thinking about all the meetings and arguments of the men in charge as they debated the difference between direct and indirect abortions. Seriously, any woman who has ever been pregnant and any man who has ever known a pregnant woman knows that this kind of dialogue fails to reflect the mysteries of the whole situation, never mind the realities of pregnancy, miscarriage and abortion. Certainly, any family that has faced the terrible situation of weighing the continuation of a pregnancy vs. the life of the mother, wife, daughter, WOMAN, would assure all of us dear readers that there is no worse hell imaginable. Considering the state of health care for women in the United States, this type of dialogue also seems to steal the stage from the more banal and everyday questions of health for women—not just our reproductive status, but our hearts and minds. Why isn’t the leadership group of any religion focused on addressing the incredible health disparities in our country? Why is the maternal and infant mortality rate so very high here in the United States when we have the resources that we have? Another part of me wanted to cry because these men, men who have made a significant lifetime commitment to their spiritual practice and service of their communities, have missed something important—-how could time invested in this madness ever produce a more positive human experience for anyone? How is this in service of God? While I imagine that those who feel differently about the issue at hand than I do would be delighted to tell me with great passion about how this is very much so in service, it still seems a fair question—at least philosophically, if not otherwise.
How is this related to yoga? This is yoga. A very wise and brilliant student at Yoga Matrika recently communicated her revelation that what happens in her life is her practice. What happens on her yoga mat is just a trial run. What we realize through yoga practice is that just when we think we have the answer, the game shifts. Life is like being invited onto Jeopardy and practicing for months only to find yourself, with no notice, as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune! Direct or indirect, perhaps we can just use this as a public example of what happens when we use our brains to attempt to find logic in what we need to bring our higher intelligence to.
I invite you to read this article and think of a time when you struggled to make logic of a situation in which there is no logic. Thinking back on this time, see if you can now, even with hindsight, go back to the process and use your deeper intelligence to make peace. To do this, sitting on a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor or in a comfortable seated pose on the ground gently create distance between your lowest rib and your hips. As you feel the sides of your body lengthen, bring your navel center over your pelvis. This allows your pelvis to support your enteric nervous system—-otherwise known as your gut. Now, bring your heart over your navel. This allows your heart to be supported by your instincts. Now, gentle tuck your chin towards your heart so that your neck lengthens and you relax your facial muscles. This allows your brain to be supported by your intuition and your heart. Watch your breath for a few moments and feel the peace that comes from equanimity. Even if it is just for a moment. Isn’t it a relief to take the world off your shoulders? Now, breathe this sense of peace and calm to everyone in the world. Let us all heal and put our energy into work that benefits the health and wellness of all living things.
Catholic Bishops Clarify Abortion Definitions in Light of Ariz. Case
June 28, 2010 — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops‘ Committee on Doctrine released a statement last week clarifying how the church classifies direct abortions and indirect abortions, the Arizona Republic reports.
The statement refers to a recent case in which Sister Margaret McBride, an administrator at a Catholic hospital in Arizona, was excommunicated for her role in authorizing an abortion to save a woman’s life. The statement did not review the particulars of the case or take a position on the excommunication; instead, it said USCCB wanted to clarify “confusion” about the church’s stance on abortion.
According to the Republic, the church condemns direct abortion — meant to terminate a pregnancy — but permits indirect abortion — in which fetal death is a secondary effect of another necessary procedure — in some cases, such as a hysterectomy to treat uterine cancer. “As the church has said many times, direct abortion is never permissible because a good end cannot justify an evil means,” the statement said, adding, “There are no situations in which it can be justified.”
The statement “appears to confirm” the Phoenix bishop’s classification of the Arizona case as a direct abortion, the Republic reports (Clancy, Arizona Republic, 6/25). In the case, the young mother of four was 11 weeks pregnant and had pulmonary hypertension, a rare condition in which continuing the pregnancy often jeopardizes the life of the woman. Physicians concluded that the placenta had to be removed to prevent the patient from dying (Women’s Health Policy Report, 6/9).
Posted by Sharon Rudyk, owner of Yoga Matrika http://www.yogamatrika.com/
Science Experiment
I recently received an e-mail newsletter from a “yoga coach” (the same one that introduced me to the Solid Potato Salad video on the Class Schedule page of the site) and he had a new one that is great fun that I thought you might enjoy.
You’re a Star…..Literally.
In my estimation, of the greatest joys of being a parent is that you get to reconnect with children’s literature. Sure, there are nights when I’m quite sure that if I ever even accidentally trip over a Dr. Seuss book again that I might immediately burst into flames–never mind READ it again. For the most part, I am delighted by the beautiful illustrations, the kind and meaningful tone and the idea that there is such great potential in this life.
Recently, we checked out The Greatest Intergalactic Guide to Space Ever by the Brainwaves from our local library. The illustrations by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar are imaginative and, quite frankly, hilarious. The book is a brilliant collection of facts about space and it is everything that I had hoped my college course on astronomy would be, but without the physics.
Then, on page 25, I read something that awed me and put me in touch with a sense of wonder and wonderment that made me kiss my sleeping blondie on his little head before I continued my new favorite book:
“The Sun is mostly hydrogen and helium, but it also includes small amounts of other elements. Earth formed close to the Sun from the same cloud of matter. Humans are material made from Earth’s elements, so everything in our bodies was once a star.”
Just in case you didn’t catch it—–EVERYTHING YOU ARE MADE OF WAS ONCE A STAR! Now, I’d heard something similar in some yoga or energy text that suggested that our bodies are made up of the same elements that stars are made of, but this is something different entirely because it creates a chronology. The statement in this children’s book suggests a past for all of us, a past when our parts were shining clouds of matter in the night sky. This idea is at once humbling and liberating.
No matter what kind of yoga you practice, the foundation of the practice is a kind of mindfulness that becomes available when we focus the mind and acknowledge the constant stream of thoughts that so many of us make the mistake of identifying with. Maybe that stream slows down somewhat with time and practice, but for many of us, what we can obtain in this lifetime is just an awareness. In many classes, the smallest element that we break our awareness into is the cell. What I would like to suggest is that, based on this idea that our most elemental parts were at one time a star, we spend some time in meditation getting in touch with our inner star.
The first step, and perhaps the most challenging, is to release our physical body—the body of organs and bones and blood and guts. Especially if you are in pain, this may be a considerable challenge. But, to give it a try, just lie on your back and systematically relax from your toes to the crown of your head. Then, just wait for your breathing to naturally slow down and become shallow. Don’t rush it or try to control the breath. Just lie there until you feel everything slow down.
The second step would be to watch the transitions of the breath. Focus on the space where the in-breath becomes the out-breath and the out-breath becomes the in-breath. If you lose your focus, just return to it whenever you realize that you’ve drifted. If you constantly lose focus, then you can try to add counting—-count your inhale (1) and then just listen to the sound of your exhale, count your inhale(2) and then listen to the exhale and so on until you count to ten. Anyone who has tried this before knows that you will probably get lost before you reach ten, but just keep it up and return to one when you realize you are lost.
The third step is starting to feel the way that energy is moving through your body. There is no right or wrong answer. Bring your mind’s eye to your navel and just see how energy is moving from your center to the periphery. Maybe your center feels numb—that’s interesting! Maybe you can only feel your right side—that’s interesting! Please try not to make judgments. Instead, just be incredibly curious.
Finally, start to feel the pulse of energy through the body and give that pulse a golden light. When you feel the energy rise, feel yourself glow. When you feel the energy start to wane, then feel a complete release as your light dulls a bit. Just pulse energy and light like this for as long as you wish, until you fall asleep or until you wake up.
Confirmed by a children’s book—-you ARE a star!
REFERENCES
Stott, Carole
The Greatest Intergalactic Guide to Space Ever by the Brainwaves. London; New York:DK Publishers, 2009.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika, a lovely little studio in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 6520 Wilkins Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Contact information for Sharon is available on the website: http://www.yogamatrika.com/. Please feel free to share and re-post, but be kind and give credit back to the Yoga Matrika blog and Sharon. Namaste!
Ode to Fathers
I was recently shopping at Target for garbage bags, Play Doh and “feminine protection products” (Exactly what are we being protected from? Who is being protected? But I digress…..) and on my way to the cash registers I saw a large display of Father’s Day cards. How convenient! I figured that I would easily be able to snatch up some lovely and thoughtful cards for all the Daddies in my life. The first one I picked up was from the “humorous” section and it had a picture of an overweight man with an exposed belly and a dripping beer can in his hand. The overt message of the card was that the recipient deserved a day to just sit on his butt and drink this beer due to his (On all other days but this one?) magnificent role as DAD. The undertone of the card was that the recipient was lazy and had questionable hygiene and probably spent a lot of days on the couch with a beer in one hand and clothes that didn’t fit quite right. So, actually, not that magnificent of a Dad at all. The next 15-or so cards that I picked up didn’t get much better. One card even made a farting noise when you opened it! The general idea is that American fathers are golf playing, beer guzzling, lazy, farting and/or fart joke telling, overweight, fishermen with somewhat questionable parenting skills, but who mean really well. I was embarrassed for the state of fatherhood and my quick stop for cards turned into a rather lengthy exploration of what these cards reflected in terms of our expectations for fathers and the ways in which we feel it is appropriate to thank them.
Considering the fact that over 21 million American children are being raised in single parent homes and over 84% of these single-parent homes are being facilitated by mothers, it seems that having someone to buy a father’s day card for has become somewhat unique. To summarize, 26% of American children do not have regular contact with their fathers. From the cards on display, it would also appear that the fathers who do stick around, are fools. Perhaps, even worse than fools. These are unkempt fools who like to golf. Today, I received a promotional e-mail from Organic Bouquet that offered 15% off their selection of Father’s Day gift section. The gift section included some very expensive items like an olive tree, bonsai and a wall hanging of a brown fish that said “GONE FISHING.” The less expensive items were cookies in the shape of backyard barbecue foods. The discount could not be applied to any of the beautiful flower arrangements that this company offered for sale. No, the discount was on this ridiculous selection of man-gifts—-over-priced olive trees and hot dog shaped cookies.
Can you imagine? “Here honey, give this olive tree to Daddy—yes, he’s on the couch where he always is—-and, include this card of the fat man that makes a farting noise when you open it. He’s just going to be so happy!”
Honestly, if this is fatherhood, is it really a club you want to belong to? Sounds to me like a job with low expectations and no benefits. As a society, we need to re-imagine fatherhood so that it is a role that men can see themselves playing and that we aren’t embarrassed to ask them to play. In my role, facilitating Dynamic Childbirth workshops—–yoga-based childbirth preparation workshops for pregnant women and their birth partners—I meet a lot of men who want to be great partners and great fathers. As a matter of fact, I know that many of them ARE great fathers and are part of a movement to re-define fatherhood. Do some of them fish? Yes, they absolutely do! Do some of them drink beer, watch tv, play golf and occasionally make poor fashion choices? Yes, they absolutely do! Is this what defines them? No, absolutely not.
These fathers support their partners in pregnancy and childbirth. These fathers cook all the meals so mom can breastfeed all day and all night. These fathers wear their babies and sing them to sleep at night and know where the band-aids are and the pediatrician’s phone number. These fathers wake up at 2:00am and rush feverish babies with croup to the emergency room. These fathers teach their daughters how to go down the slide feet first and push their sons on the swing. These are fathers who share themselves and their interests with their children by taking them camping, to their favorite farmer’s market and the record store. These fathers play musical instruments, have a love of film, poetry, good books or an interest in horror movies—–whatever it is, they are interested in something and they show their children what is possible in the world from a different perspective from their partner. These fathers show their children that compassion, responsibility and generosity are excellent qualities in a man.
So, I’d like to thank my father for giving me the gift of music, adventure and for always making sure that I had the tools of the trade—a Swiss Army Knife, comfortable shoes and a calling card. And, after my son was born, thank you to my father for bringing food by every night so I didn’t have to worry about making meals. Thank you to my step-father for learning how to defrost breast milk. Thank you to my grandfather for loving my grandma so very much and making your children and family a priority. Thank you for being the one who didn’t mind if I wore tops that didn’t match my bottoms, for not liking my boyfriend, for helping me move in and out of countless apartments and college dorms and for picking me up from that party in the middle of the night because my ride was drunk and never, never, ever saying anything about it.
Thank you to all the fathers out there who we would be embarrassed to give these silly cards to. This Father’s Day, let’s forget the olive tree and the ridiculously-shaped cookies and make our own cards. Let’s create an Ode to Fathers that reflects their true gifts and the sacrifices and commitments that they make to be great Dads. May our collective Ode be a part of a revision of American fatherhood that is inspiring and meaningful.
References:
United States. Census Department. Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2007. By Timothy S. Grall. Census, 2009. 26 Feb. 2010 [http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-237.pdf].
What is iRest?
This Sunday, Mickie Diamond is going to be facilitating a Yoga Nidra: iRest workshop, this Sunday, June 6th from 4:00 to 5:15 pm. The cost of the workshop is $15. REGISTER HERE
This workshop is for everyone and no experience with yoga or meditation is required. Just wear comfortable clothing and keep an open mind—-it will be lots of fun and you will leave deeply relaxed with some skills that you can use in your real life off the mat.
Here is some information about iRest that I have taken from the Integrative Restoration Institute website:
Would you like to live with greater ease of being, feel more relaxed, and sleep more soundly? Would you like to develop “tools for life” that enable you to rise above stress, anxiety, fear, pain, and emotional and mental turmoil? iRest is a deeply relaxing transformative practice that leads to physical, psychological, and spiritual health, healing, and well-being.
A non-movement-based meditation, iRest invites you to discover an intrinsic sense of peace that is always present, regardless of your life circumstances. You will learn to release negative body sensations, emotions, beliefs, and stress that otherwise give rise to self-destructive behaviors.
People who practice iRest report: • Decreased insomnia, • Reduced depression, anxiety and fear, • Decreased chronic and acute pain, • Improved interpersonal relations, • Increased inner peace and well-being. Extensively researched, iRest is used with PTSD-diagnosed soldiers and veterans, students, children, and the homeless, and people experiencing chemical dependency issues, chronic pain, and insomnia.