At one point today in yoga class, the teacher was having us visualize our bodies as temples, and the breath as the altar in the temple. OK, that was sort of hard. She walked us through a visualization of putting something on that altar as a symbol of what doing yoga is for us. She suggested a lotus flower, as the symbol of transformation, since the lotus grows from mud into a beautiful flower. But before she muddied the waters, so to speak, other symbols had already sprung from my imagination and settled themselves firmly on that altar. What were they? A rubber band and a paper clip.

Hmm, these are not what you might expect on the sacred altar of breath in my body, you say? They are not the kind of symbolic icons that you might see engraved on the walls of the temple of Ishtar or upon the great pyramids of Egypt. However, these two lowly items are strong in symbolism and power in today's world, don't you think? The flexibility and utility of the rubber band - one of those thick, blue kinds that can be used for holding power cords together or broccoli stalks. I guess the rubber band is the body I'd like to have.. stretchable, reboundable, colorful... and the paperclip could be my mind - holding things in place, strong yet bendable, shiny and sharp. Put the two together and you can make a toy, a slingshot, a contraption of many uses.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 at 2:15 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.