Breathe! Even if your crow doesn't fly.

My yoga teacher says the point of yoga is breathing - it's really not about getting my body into all those positions. In fact, she will often modify positions for those of us who can't quite get there. What she does insist on, however, is that we keep breathing.

Recently we were learning "the crow". In the crow only your hands are touching the ground in the final position, and your knees are resting on the back of your upper arms above your elbows. When you are in this position, the crow is said to be flying.

Debra, my instructor, said to us as we were moving into position, "Your crow does not have to fly," meaning that your knees did not actually have to come up onto your arms. I can tell you as a novice, that getting my knees up on my arms was not going to happen that night. I'm glad I have a gentle teacher who doesn't make me feel guilty about being in class and not being able to do it all. My crow was not going to fly.

The position, as I'm learning, is not the point. Breathing is the point. So at the moment when Debra said if you could to simply move into the flying position - she says it a lot better than that, of course - she also almost immediately said, "Breathe!" I did put an exclamation point there on purpose. She's quite gentle, but on this breathing thing, she's downright insistent. Sometimes she simply says, "breathe". But most of the time, it's "Breathe!" and sometimes even, "BREATHE!" Because, you see, at the moment of trying to get our crow to fly, there's this collective sucking of air in the room and then silence because without knowing it we're holding our breath. We're afraid of this position because, frankly, it's challenging, so we gasp and quit breathing. Now, in yoga, holding your breath is not helpful; in fact, if you want to get into various poses, it's downright counterproductive.

Have you ever noticed yourself not breathing as it were when something challenging happens? Something stressful? I've been thinking that what I'm learning in yoga is that this is a great place to start when I'm in a difficult spot in my day, when I'm troubled, challenged, disturbed or in any way aware that all is not well. "Breathe!"

One of the words for God's Spirit in Hebrew is "Ruach" which means "wind, breath, mind, spirit". When I breathe, simply do what my body does naturally, it is an opportunity to be infused with God's Spirit, an opportunity to be full instead of empty, at peace instead of stressed, joyful and peaceful instead of tense or disturbed. But how often we hear this collective sucking of air in the room when things get tense. Suddenly no one's breathing! In life, as in yoga, not breathing is downright counterproductive and makes stressful situations worse, makes it hard for God's spirit to flow in and out and through me.

Pay attention to your breathing. Breathe in and out and realize God is in that breathing. Wow. Your crow may not fly yet, but you can surely breathe!