I spent a night last weekend to serve on the committee. While there I attended a presentation. In his talk and in his latest book he acknowledges the structural and psychological dangers inherent in many Spiritual communities while encouraging his audiences to delve deeply into the scriptures of their childhoods. I was raised a Protestant, but am convinced that my favorite childhood stories influenced my spiritual development as much as the Bible verses I memorized in school.

DuBose Heyward was a white gentleman from Charleston, South Carolina who was fascinated by Gullah culture. Although he was a prominent business man, his novel, Porgy, 1925, may be the first in the South to portray Blacks without condescension. Ten years later George Gershwin used his libretto and his lyrics for nearly half of the arias in the celebrated opera Porgy and Bess. When I listened to the tale of The Country Bunny as a child I never considered race. None the less I was teary eyed (still am) to follow the success of the “little country girl bunny with a brown skin and a little cotton ball of a tail” in her competition with the “big white bunnies who lived in fine houses and the Jack Rabbits with long legs who can run so fast”. If you haven’t read this quintessential tale of compassion, wisdom, bravery, and yes, speed – get your cotton tail down to your nearest bookstore. Whatever your faith, this book is not to be missed!

Kripalu yoga emphasizes warm-up flows as gentle warm-ups to bring our attention to both our bodies and our breath. As we breathe and stretch in these movement explorations we check in with how we feel right now. These warm-ups are a quick way to take an inventory of where our bodies feel strong and where they need more loving support. My friend, Mark Shepard, helped me film this initial flow in a traditional Kripalu teaching manner. After introducing the flow I silently demonstrate the flow from Cat & Dog > Abdominal Lifts > Open Gate & See Saw > Cat & Dog w/ abdominal lifts > Open Gate & See Saw on the opposite side > Cat & Dog w/ abdominal lifts > Camel > Extended Child. This flow will also appear in my Easter Lesson Plan PDF.

Notice that I take my time setting myself up in table. Rocking back and forth I find the place where my weight is comfortably balanced between my fingers, hands, knees, shins, and feet. Each time I return to Table is like coming home and I take a moment to resettle myself. Repetition allows me to notice the subtle changes in my energy, flexibility, and breath. Notice that I add little foot circles to See-Saw and use the support of my hands on my hips to lift myself out of camel. Re-read the flow of postures. Do you need to watch parts of the video again? Skip through it to the parts that are less familiar to you.

If you want to try this sequence as a daily practice, I would encourage you to center first by listening to the back yard peepers in my Spring Peepers post. Follow your breath in and out to the mantra So hum (I am That) or Ham sa (Brahma’s Wild Goose or Swan Vehicle). If you need a review, I introduced this meditation in G two posts ago. The sibilant “s” sound may feel natural on the inhalation and the aspirant “ha” sound feel natural on the exhalation. See if you can keep mental track of So or sa on your in breaths and hum or Ham on your out breaths through out your practice. When other thoughts crowd out the mantra in your head, deepen your breath for a few rounds to refocus, without judgment. Needless to say, you will be holding your breath out during each of the rounds of abdominal pumping. My husband always says I have hair balls when I practice abdominal lifts, but they are terrific for the digestive tract and bring lots of heat to the body! Notice how delicious the So breath feels when you raise your wings up overhead to inhale again! When I hold the image of a large, soft, downy bird in my imagination along with the mantra, I move my arms as though flapping gentle wings and breath as though ruffling and smoothing the feathers on my chest. Feel free to hold or repeat whatever portions of the flow seem to ask for more challenge or attention. To finish, lie down and rock your knees side to side in a gentle twist before relaxing in Sivasana to the musical strains of more frogs peeping. This whole practice should take no more than 10 minutes. Remember that any variation that feels better in your body is better. Any practice that you plan to repeat regularly must feel good!