Seems like a goofy title during this time of unrest, time of realignment. This week my online class is called “Take a Knee in Solidarity” (so yes, there are 8-10 low lunges, you’ve been warned!). I was overjoyed to read the NFL has reversed its previously incomprehensible stance regarding “taking a knee” of four years ago. Colin Kaepernick bravely unleashed a silent protest against injustice. So this week, to be in solidarity with the winds of change around us, I’ve got all of us on our knees…literally and figuratively.
I humbly offer that last week was a heavy one for me. I saw the world with a new lens, one that made me really uncomfortable, one that had me scrambling to read, listen, and try to learn–or rather, unlearn–so much. I have been mired in a sea of shame and guilt. Perhaps you have felt the same?
This wonderful town where I live held a peaceful demonstration last week. We lined a parkway and did a wave-like motion for miles, taking a collective knee for 8:46, the length of time a white police officer’s knee stayed on George Floyd’s neck and killed him in Minneapolis. Sobering to be a part of such an evening, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to unite in such a meaningful and moving way.
Yoga teachings call on us to live our lives with AHIMSA–the very first “Yama” or way of living in the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali. The translation of ahimsa is not harming any other creature. Alas I now see my complicity in the years of harm, and offer my future to be one of lifting up, education, and action.
I read an interview with the Dali Lama recently. His simple words struck me as poignant, “What will be your role?”
Namaste.