Friday, April 18, 2014

Just Breathe

Peachtree City, Georgia.  Lush trees, crisp amazing air, space to run.

I'm here for work.  But I can't help but feel I'm here for something more.  In honor of it being Good Friday and Easter approaching, I find myself re-reading Mark this time of year.  This verse spoke to me in a new way:

"Everything he does is wonderful.  He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak." Mark 7:37b NLT

Who can suddenly hear and see?  Me.

My hotel is attached to a public fitness facility.  I love to workout hard.  But noticing they were offering free yoga classes, decided to check it out.  SO!  I hauled myself out of my big plush hotel bed and down to the weight room.  One wall mirrors, one wall floor-to-ceiling windows facing the most beautiful forest!

There were 2 senior ladies there waiting for the rest of their usual morning group.  Oh, boy.  I'd stumbled onto my mom's water aerobics class.  At first, I was a little antsy.  I wanted to sweat!  But soon, I found myself wrapped in the sweet tones of the substitute teacher (ya know, one misses and her friend will step in) reading her notes as she went.  Okay, I thought, I could use this as a meditative/relaxation/breathing yoga.  Something would come of it.

I breathed.  Had I breathed that deeply in months?
I stretched.  Oof, didn't know that was so tight!
I listened.  I listened.  I listened.

You can miss so much when your heart is closed.  You can miss inspiration when your purpose it too set.  These ladies opened their space and their vulnerabilities up to me.  I was gifted in a way they probably couldn't know.  That generous spirit changed my trajectory.

I've been trying to write this book.  Trying to get my creative heart into something tangible.  I might have found my way.  Just breathe.

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