Years ago in Hong Kong, every Friday night a group of religious seekers met at my apartment to talk. One man, who resembled a sturdy, middle-aged, unkempt Chinese Buddha, preached the benefits of yoga and meditation. He would tell me, "You make your mind blank."
I did not think he was very bright, although he had been a teacher at an agricultural college in Hunan Province before the revolution. So I thought to myself, I don't want to have an empty mind like his. To me, making my mind blank meant becoming stupid.
I did not realize that yoga and meditation meant getting rid of the garbage and noise that invades our minds and destroys our serenity and peace. I was the stupid one.
Yoga has been a part of College of Marin's Adaptive P.E. Program almost from the beginning. Jessica Naythons and Jeff Kamler are accomplished yoga teachers.
There are many kinds of yoga, and I think Jessica knows most of them. She goes on frequent retreats and studies the art to bring it back to our yoga mats.
With his strong medical background, Jeff is good at explaining how yoga affects our physiology, and is happy to share his information with interested students
Yoga and meditation are branches of the same tree. Most yoga practice has meditation as its base, though it may be difficult to imagine assuming some of yoga's more difficult postures without straining.
We practice our yoga as a class of about twenty students spread out on gym mats that cover the floor like a gigantic carpet. We lay back and listen to the instructor. Soft music plays in the background. We are told to relax and focus our thoughts on our breathing. Then, we start moving sets of muscles, beginning with the eyes, mouth, jaw, slowly, one set after another, being reminded to keep focused, till after fifty minutes we are relaxed as rag dolls.
My mind is empty and I feel good.