Breathe Through The Pain

Last week I found myself continuously singing, "This Little Light of Mine." (If you are unfamiliar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Little_Light_of_Mine). This was my way of breathing through the unmeasurable emotional pain that I was feeling. Coincidentally on Friday I was in a yoga class and the teacher told us that the first mantra many of us learned was "This Little Light of Mine," then as we closed class instead of doing the usual Om chant we sang "This Little Light of Mine."

At some point during one of my many yoga classes this summer we were lying in frog pose, which if you don't know yoga it is a pose that really stretches your hips in a way that is sometimes painful. The teacher told us to breathe through the pain. This is a common thought in yoga, as you are taught to keep a steady breath throughout your practice, no matter the strain or pain that you feel.

I have been working with this philosophy all year, and its made me a different teacher. When things bother me in my classroom I breathe in and out, silently chanting "let " as I breathe in "go" as I breathe out. Its given me a whole new presence among my students and opened me up for a lot more room to care about the things that really matter.

One of the reasons I sang "This Little Light of Mine" this week was because I wanted to really ignite my inner light. As a Quaker I believe that there is that of God in everyone, so this belief is embodied in my inner light. I think that the yogi breath can contribute to ignite this light as well, which is why it works to breathe through the pain. If you are not spiritual, or do not believe in this inner light, you ultimately believe that every person possesses some kind of inner strength so I would suggest breathe through the pain to find that strength.

I must ignite all of these in this time of great tragedy. I am going to be taking very deep breaths, singing to myself, and focus in on my inner light in order to find strength.