The song “Scars” by I am They has always touched my heart.  It speaks of our resilience in God and that sometimes the trials in life, although we would never choose to repeat them, have given us a new perspective.  After living in the depth and darkness we have a greater appreciation for the light and the restoration we can find in God when we choose to seek him.   These are the first two verses of the song: 

Waking up to a new sunrise
Looking back from the other side
I can see now with open eyes

Darkest water and deepest pain
I wouldn’t trade it for anything
‘Cause my brokenness brought me to you
And these wounds are a story you’ll use

This beautiful song is like a warm hug or blanket to those that have suffered, perhaps helping them feel less alone and open to the idea that God is using their suffering to reveal himself and perhaps some of his characteristics in them, such as courage, compassion, and forgiveness to bring healing, depth of character and deepened faith.  I love this verse from 2 Corinthians, which alludes to the fact that we can daily renew ourselves. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV  I like to think of this wasting away more like a letting go of the old , letting go of stories of hurt and lack so that again and again we can choose to align with God and his infinite love and grace.

In Romans, Paul points us in a direction of healing and getting right with the Lord, letting us know that the way is within our reach, within our minds!   As yogi’s we will also find ways to use our bodies and breath, to get right with God.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:2.   Therapeutic yoga’s aim is to fill the practitioner’s toolbox with lots of choices or specific tools to bring balance and to increase one’s resilience, trust, and ability to see the love and light within one’s own body, mind, and heart. 

Here are just a few mind hacks that we can use to retrain our brains to align more with the our inherently peaceful nature.   This peace and unchanging love of God was literally hard wired into us at birth.  Through the gift of the holy spirit, we can always have access to God and our true nature which aligns more with the heart of God and Jesus himself.    A powerful way to influence our brain through our yoga is to invite an intention into our practice, perhaps one that aligns with God’s character such as gratitude, patience, trust, or self-compassion.  Another way is to simply bring awareness to our own breath and body.   Yoga does this automatically but by naming what is happening in the brain during yoga we can literally use our practice to rewrite the story of ourselves as worthy and loved children of God as opposed to damaged or broken humans. 

On our mat and off the mat when we are aware of negativity or brokenness creeping in, simply stop and be aware of the body and the breath.   If standing notice your feet touching the earth, notice things in your environment, this is called exteroception, being aware of our external world.   Quick, name five things around you, try it!   A sure way to stop your monkey mind!   Notice the way your body stands or sits in space, shoulders over hips, the curve of your spine, the way it feels to shift your weight from foot to foot.  Say to yourself “my body is safe space, a temple and sacred space for spirit to move through. “  

 Awareness of your body and how it moves in time and space, right now, this is proprioception.   Aware of all its part’s separate and you as a whole, moving or still.  Ways to increase proprioception include slowing down, practicing with the eyes closed, if possible, to help you turn inward and including balance poses, without the judgement of course.  Remember, how we speak to ourselves matter.  Another way is doing novel things, both on and off the mat.  Try stepping forward or backward into your poses with the opposite foot or try facing the other direction on your mat, using your ears rather than looking at a yoga video. Try a new type of yoga or exercise.   Embody whatever you do more fully, and your brain will thank you.  When we pause and remind ourselves, we are safe in our bodies it sends messages to our brain that all is well.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. –  2 Corinthians 5:17

Going deeper still we explore, interception which is related to the process in which we become aware of what’s going on in our bodies.   Frequently, we start with the body, then we notice thoughts and feelings that occur within the body.  Trauma, challenging life situations, stress and getting stuck in the fight or flight nervous system can cut us off from the feelings in our bodies. When we don’t know how we feel, we don’t know how to respond, and we become anxious.   Yoga helps us to develop an ability to feel more objectively what we are feeling.  The poses themselves are an opportunity to get slightly uncomfortable, breath into these bodily sensations, persevere and come out of the pose feeling self-empowered and in control.

 Taking time to pause during our practice allow for more time to feel and to reinforce our intentions for healing.  This can be facilitated by noticing feelings of spaciousness or freedom in one side of the body say in a lateral bend before doing the pose on the other side.  Other times to pause and feel include lingering longer in mountain pose, child’s pose, or other restorative poses where we can just be and breath.  Perhaps we notice difficult thoughts or emotions start to surface and through our breath and the grounding sensations in our bodies we can recall our intentions knowing transient feelings will always come and go but when we are rooted in our faith these feelings can be allowed but not allowed to consume us.  Akin to a strong wind moving across a still lake perhaps there are ripples on the surface of the water but deep in the lake there is a calm abiding awareness.  This is us rooted in God; no storm can uproot us. 

This brings us back to the anchoring, healing works of I am They:

So I’m thankful for the scars
‘Cause without them I wouldn’t know your heart
And I know they’ll always tell of who you are
So forever I am thankful for the scars

Now I’m standing in confidence
With the strength of your faithfulness
And I’m not who I was before
No, I don’t have to fear anymore

In closing, let us reflect on this verse.  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 .  I love the image of setting aside every weight, every hurt and old story and running with endurance.   Endurance, my friends, this is not a sprint to healing or enlightenment.   True healing and connection with God requires endurance, daily practices of loving ourselves and accepting the loving gaze of God.  We forget, we get drawn into the old story, maybe even the stories that are not even ours to hold, we suffer, we rally, we feel joy, yes, we deserve this too.   We are human, we doubt, we are afraid then we find faith and trust.   We have darkness and light.   Can we choose to invite the light of Christ to illuminate our darkness.  You have a body.  You have a mind.  You have a spirit and a heart that God wrote on long ago.  Pause, breath, feel it all, move, let go, choose peace in God.   Repeat. 

If you are interested, here is a link to a yoga therapy class I created based on some of the therapeutic techniques discussed here.