Prayers For A Flat Belly: Yoga with Sienna at Wailea Yoga Shala: Wailea, HI: April 26, 2018

There's a few things I want enough to pray about them, and a flat belly is one.

I've become re-interested in prayer lately via an intriguing chapter entitled The Forgotten Art of Prayer in Paul Butterworth's book, Discover The Power Within You. It seems my understanding of prayer mixed up. Its not about begging or wishing or trying to pull desires towards you, its about aligning one's consciousness with what already is, we just can't see it. Several biblical passages are helpful: Matthew 6:8 "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before you ask Him" , and Luke 12.32 "It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom", and Mark 11:24 "all things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them". Its a connection to one's spiritual self, endowed with all the capabilities and a Kingdom within filled with all sufficient resources. There is nothing wrong with my belly muscles, its just that they are covered with excess that will take some doing to rid myself of.

There are a few things I want badly enough to do the work to actually get them. One of them is a flatter belly. I used to think it wasn't possible, being 56 and all, but after practicing a more strengthening sequence, I've started noticing a little muscle starting to come through. I completely take this as a outward manifestation of answered prayers.

My newfound interest in the dynamics of prayer was met with Sienna's use of the word 'prayer' in class today, several times. 'Hands in prayer, lift your prayer up, prayer at the heart, keep prayer', and other cues. One hears these instructions often in a yoga class because anjali mudra is a common hand gesture. I'm finding more and more often that anything I want, really want, is right here, I'm just not hearing the call, or as some would say, tuned to the vibration, which almost hurts to even write because it sounds so hocus pocus. I find writing an easier method of self expression of late, maybe because very few people read my blog. Which is another prayer, that one day sooner than later it will be read by many. But that's another post and scarier to even write about today so I'll talk about my belly.

I've been praying for many years but in retrospect it seems like I've been begging, which is not the point.

I use prayer as a last resort. When my own best efforts can't get me there, especially when low self esteem or plain ol' laziness get in the way. When I came across the passage that God already knows what I'm praying for my first instinct was to believe the scripture must be poorly translated. What I'm coming to learn is that, like the concept of prayer itself, there is some work on my part, a deeper spiritual search, an understanding that I"m not quite catching. Madame de Salzmann said, ego is an excellent servant but a bad master. So I'm learning to temper my desire with a relaxed prayer. Like anjali mudra is make with two hands, there are two parts. The Upanishads describe this a tapas pravad, devas prasad..it is through a combination of human effort and Divine grace that anything happens.

I used to hate any exercises, yoga or not, that had to do with core, abs, anything belly. Obviously I carry a lot of issues there. Its only lately that I've decided to lean into the discomfort, the shame, and the dread and rebuild myself from the center of my being. These little abs popping out of my middle aged belly are a product of lots of chataranga play, but mainly a clearing a way of old belief systems. And just like the muscles that were always there are starting to show up, the law says that abundance will also start to show up if I clear the mental blocks and, even harder than one legged crunches or one armed chatagrangas, do the work.

I continue to pray that Steve Winwood will join us on tour,  my belly will be bikini worthy, and my bank account beachouse-with-a-view fat.

While class this morning was a traditional vinyasa flow, for me it was one long prayer to do the work to believe, for real, they are already happening in some realm and are making there way to popping to the surface in the same cute way I'm seeing my belly reveal herself so sweetly.

Health, Love, and Rock N Roll