Well, it’s been awhile since my yoga mat and I have had a date. Like, maybe, creeping on 3 months awhile. I think we had a 30 minute power lunch next to my bed one day in December. But it was a long December, a blur to be honest, and that could very well be a false statement. I looked at my schedule for this week and decided Hump Day would be my January 1st. Twenty seven days late really isn’t so bad if you’re a Kerby…or a Ferguson…or most anyone related to me.

I felt like we were on a first date. I was a little shy and feeling a bit self conscious to say the least. I decided at the last minute, since I was being so awkward with myself and my mat, that I would push the awkwardness a bit farther and try a new studio. Just jump ship. Have you ever done that? Yep, me either.

I walked into the trendy yoga studio with EDM blaring in the back ground thinking, “Oh boy. This is going to be a fun hour.” Let me rewind and give you the scoop on how my yoga practice normally flows. My routine is to go to the same studio I started practicing in with VERY calm music welcoming me into my church. It’s my time to sit and get real with God. God and a few other sweaty, smelly, seemingly nice folk. It’s almost 100F and I breathe and move and pray and surrender. However, today I walk directly into the actual studio (it’s donation only, so a lobby is obviously a waste of money) where the very friendly instructor was hanging out at a little side kiosk and what I felt like everyone in the room was greeting me with a look of horror. Of course they weren’t but I felt like I had just walked in naked.

I plopped down next to the dread head- I say this with absolute endearment. I’ve always wanted dreads but never grew the cojones that comes with them. I get my mat rolled out and lay down to get my Jesus time on. I’m quickly interrupted by the friendly instructor who asks us to introduce ourselves to someone next to us and say hi so the next hour will feel more comfortable, you know. The woman on my other side and I say hello and shake hands, both of us obviously thinking “oh boy”. I’m pretty sure she was expecting some holy time, too, not so much a social hour. But come to think of it, a lot of churches do have a Meet Your Neighbor moment. I think it’s called Pass the Peace. Maybe the friendly instructor was following a church agenda without me ever realizing it as such.

ANYWAY.

The hour was holy. I went with the flow and found God on my mat. I rediscovered my breath. I realized that God gives strength to me whenever I ask for it, which is typically in emotional or spiritual requests. But He showed up again today and reminded me that He’s there for my physical needs, too.

So quickly I forgot how grateful I had become for two working legs. I broke my knee last spring in a freak ski accident. It was my first time skiing and the freaky part was that I was screaming into the mountain at the sound of my knee snapping, and, yes, I was on the bunny hill. A humbling experience one has while being sledded down the mountain by ski patrol as five year olds whiz past your head. Once I had completed Physical Therapy months later, a very profound gratitude for two working legs and a healthy body came over me. God showed me then and again today that I can rest, even for a few months, and He will provide all the strength I need. I hit Bird of Paradise like I hadn’t skipped a beat. All the while, that little voice inside my head had had me worried about simply keeping up with the flow.

Please don’t get me wrong I also stumbled. And I fell. I even knocked my cup of water all over the floor rolling out of a headstand.  But I also breathed. I prayed. And I showed up. I got my Jesus time and I had a beautiful rest of the day. There is something miraculous about starting your day with God and movement. Something I hadn’t experienced in quite awhile.

The rest of the day held a similar flow. And it ended with something AMAZING. Click here to witness a miracle in humanity (and participate if you’re so inclined)! There is no way in the Universe that you will be disappointed. It could possibly be the best click of your day…

This photo was taken by Humans of New York. This is Vidal and he inspires me with his strength and abundant courage.

Have a beautiful weekend!

In Love and Joy,

B