Yoga is My New Religion: A Conversation with an Episcopal Priest
As a component of her work with Carol Krucoff and Kimberly Carson, Jo sat down to talk with two of the Spears yogis. This is the second of the two interviews posted here on the blog.
Subbing for other yoga teachers is always challenging but comes with its rewards. One Monday afternoon, I taught a yoga class at the Spears YMCA where I met Jim. An Episcopal priest, he was a few months shy of his 79th birthday and shining with health and positivity. Front row center, Jim was sitting on his mat in virasana (hero pose). He asked me with a smile, “Is this yoga one? It’s supposed to be.”
“Oh, yes, you are right, this is yoga one.” I thanked him for reminding me, secretly feeling embarrassed that I had forgotten to check the schedule to see how the class was listed before going in to teach.
What a boon meeting Jim has turned out to be! We chatted after class, and I wasn’t surprised to discover that he was a devoted husband, proud father, and doting grandfather. I also learned that eight months earlier, after attending a retreat, he had decided to cut his ponytail and start practicing yoga. What really got my attention was his litmus test for knowing when something is good: crying. “I always cry after yoga, tears of joy,” he said.
I asked if other members of his family also practiced yoga. He said that yes, his granddaughter practices yoga, and his wife has been practicing for over ten years. She loves silver stretch and chair yoga. “She’s double jointed,” he said, “most of the family is except me.” Jim also said that he really wished that he had given yoga a chance much earlier in life. At Christmas he gave the book Real Men Do Yoga to his son, grandsons, and son in law so they could also realize the benefits of regular asana practice. Just the other day, Jim’s son told him that he’d done a headstand because his shoulders were hurting, so the nudge was just what he needed.
Curious to know about Jim’s practice beyond yoga, I asked him if he practices pranayama (breathing) and meditation. “Yes,” he nodded. “I’ve been meditating for about ten years.” He is familiar with breath work, due to the influence of a friend who practices alternate nostril pranayama every morning, and the victorious—or ujjayi—breath that is regularly cued in my classes. His current goal is to build stability in virksasana (tree pose), so he can increase the length of time that he can stay in balance poses. His list of favorite poses is impressive: utkatasana (chair), salamba sarvangasana (shoulderstand), ustrasana (camel), ekapadarajakapotasana (pigeon), sura namaskara (sun salutation), virabhadrasana (warriors I-III), and paripurna navasana (boat).
Several times throughout the conversation Jim proclaimed, “Yoga is my new religion.” He listed the emotional and spiritual changes that yoga practice has created in his life: laughing more, taking himself less seriously, feeling less competitive, and being less judgmental of himself. On that front, he recommended books by Brené Brown and Tara Brach. Physically, like anyone who has a body, he has experienced pain. He has successfully alleviated numbness in his fingers by improving his posture, and he rid himself of knee pain with a variation of warrior one, positioning himself at the wall with his hands touching the wall.
I decided to ask Jim a question that I am often asked: “As a yogi, do you plan to travel to India?” He paused with a little laugh he said “No,” then listed a country or two where he had friends and family. Then he said “I’d love to go there [to India].” And I thought . . . me too. We sat quietly for a few seconds.
I’ll conclude with an email I received from Jim the next day. He wrote:
Jo,
It just came to me that I may have failed to emphasize the most profound gift of yoga. Posing in savasana (corpse) soon after I began doing yoga on a mat, I realized that for the first time in over 75 years my “self” was moving out of my head and into my torso, arms, and legs. Early in my life, I had given into the superstition that mind is superior to body. When I become mindful of the sensation of energy rushing through my body—even out of my feet and fingers—it was a gift. Now that I am almost 79, I am feeling gratitude and love for myself in a way I’d not experienced. I am not mainly in my mind. I am all of me. So I feel myself in a way I’d overlooked for so long. This must be why the heart is so much emphasized in yoga. Thanks for being one of the teachers who has helped me, and I’m sure many others come to love our whole being: body, soul, strength, and mind.
Namaste,
Jim
Jo Walker Yoga 