BY-LINES
Click for
Chronological
Listings
Listed by Theme with
**Publication- Date:

 Authenticity
YL- 5.2005
Biochemistry
PF- 1.2006

 Breathing
WP- 2.2.2000

 Chakras
YL- 7.2003

Compassion
YL- 7.2005

Courage
YL- 3.2005

 Devotion
YL- 11.2005

Eco-Yoga
YL- 9.2003

 Emotions
YL- 3.2004

Enlightenment
YL- 3.2006

 Forgiveness
YL- 9.2004

Gratitude
YL- 11.2003

 Healing Crisis
WP- 6.2000

 Inner Peace
YL- 9.2006

 Inward
YL- 1.2004

 Listening
YL- 1.2005

 Love
YL- 1.2007

 Massage Options
WP- 10.14.1999

 Mentors
YL- 11.2004

 Non-violence
YL- 1.2006

 Nutrition
YL- 9.2005

 Patience
YL- 5.2006

Recreation
YL- 7.2007

 Scripture
YL- 11.2006

 Sports
YL- 3.2007

 Teachers
YL- 1.2004

 Technology
YL- 7.2004

Truth
YL- 7.2006

 Vitality
YL- 5.2007

 Yoga 101
TC- summer.2007

 Yoga Teachers
YL- 5.2004
**Publications Key:
PF= PhillyFit
TC= Town & Country
WP= Weekly Press
YL= Yoga Living


HOME PAGE

 
 
Yin & Yang, a flowing dance of balance

Developing the Sanctuary Within

 One of my cherished eccentricities is my tactile relationship with bees. The unlikely intimacy began my very first day of Catholic school. Sister Angela patiently explained that there was a nest of bees living beyond the gates of the grotto. The grotto, of course, was centered in the recess yard. She promised that bees were merely concerned with finding pollen for honey making. Being chased by a bee would mean the bee confused a child with a beautiful flower. “Help the bee to learn by letting it find no pollen. It will fly away after it learns you aren’t a flower.”

Although most kids went into frenzied animations swatting, fleeing and tormenting the bees, I believed just about everything Sister Angela said. That day I allowed a big yellow bumble bee to crawl across my uniformed chest and investigate my embroidered school insignia. Sister was right. The bee learned and flew away.

There was an incredible simplicity that enabled my trust to parallel fear that day. I was just as leery of stinging insects as the rest of the class, but I was also afraid of deviating from directions. From day one there was a ‘pins and needles’ quality inherent to the practice of being a good Christian soldier. If Jesus could hang on a cross, I could risk being stung in an act of faith.

What is it that opens a door to sanctuary? In the middle ages a fugitive could avoid capture by seeking the shelter of a church. Our quest for inner stillness is very much the same. Eluding the encroaching attack of external stressors, requires the perception of sanctuary. In other words, how does one find a place where the echoes of obligation, judgments and insecurities fall silent?

Making balance between the dense and subtle bodies seems to be imperative. Yin and yang lifestyles have differing demands for effective means of practice. If, for example, I use ambient music as background while working as a massage therapist, chances are slim that those same CD’s are going to enhance my own relaxation. If I’m sitting at a desk for seven hours a day in a glass cube, it’s unlikely that I’ll find reward in a sitting meditation.

The formula for equanimity requires a counterpose to mundane commitments. One person’s 5K run may be another’s yin yoga class. If I’m required to edit technical periodicals, I may find healing respite by sweating out the mental details in a hot yoga class. On the other hand, if I’m creatively structuring preschoolers Monday through Friday, sitting on my meditation cushion may recreate a longed for state of calm.

Each of us can access a unique haven from abrasive experience. Finding the key to that threshold is equally unique. Determining the type of activity, the amount of physical rest or expenditure and the psychological intensity that neutralizes our angst comes first. Integrating regular participation of that practice follows. The more thoroughly integrated our participation, the more naturally effective our response to stress.

We don’t need a crisis to evaluate our foundation of inner peace. Each day affords challenge in the form of congested traffic, checkout delays, lost keys or burnt toast. Our inner witness can note our subtle, emotional acceptance in those uphill moments. Just how well have we fashioned our sanctuary? If it’s palpable during our little calamities, we’ve been good psychic masons.

There have been times when friends have enjoyed watching my persistent tolerance as a bee has gently explored the entrance to an open toed shoe. Sweat often breaks between my brows, breath deepens, goose bumps rise, but I don’t flinch. The fact that anyone is watching exacerbates the tension. Inevitably, a disappointed and disoriented bee emerges from the shoe...

Am I unshakable? Yeah, right! I aspire to invoke that centered tolerance when I need to interject diplomacy into an agitated argument. The space between different minds creates lots of triggers Sister Angela never happened to simplify.

Wouldn’t it be great if our inner guidance affirmed society’s values? What gift would it be to want the same profession that our parents envision for us? Suppose we were intrigued by the careers that offered us material fortune? Is it possible to have a dynamic relationship with a partner who agrees with us entirely? Sure in our dreams! Better yet, in our personal sanctuaries.

Once, while I was waiting for a bus that was running late, I bee landed on my cheekbone. It began separating my lower eye lashes, one by one...


by Toni Zuper
Alternative Healing
Center City, Philadelphia

published in Yoga Living -- September 2006 issue