we were having one of our longed for "Steel Beach Picnics". After 45 days of consecutive sea time they would fly on beer and BBque and we would set up grills on the flight deck. Each sailor got 2 Beer chits. I paid $ 40 dollars for 2 additional chits.
But that was then.
So, as I am walking along in a self-satisfied manner with my Budweisers proudly displayed in my hands like religious icons, I see a sailor laying on his back doing some sort of freakish breathing exercise. I looked at my friend in horror, took a swig of my rapidly heating Bud (we were in the tropics at that point).Well, now I know what he was doing: Pranayama. This is the part of yoga that is concerned with breath and energy. It is probably the most important aspect in the practice of yoga. Why? Well, because when one struggles through poses without a smooth and proper breathing then the healing properties are not realized, injury is more likely to occur and the body gets stressed rather than nourished.
I was a long way from home, a long way from recovery and a long way from understanding that this particularly enlightened sailor that I had scoffed at was giving me a glimpse of something. My reaction
to what he was doing was pronounced. I was almost insulted by what I was seeing. Interesting how when the reactions are strong there is something down the road that makes one look back and say, "Oh, now I understand".
Last night I attended a Pranic Healing Workshop as an optional event for the teacher training program. Although the skeptic in my is still alive and kicking, my mind has opened just a bit. Just enough for a little
light to shine through.
Now I am a long way from the USS Midway and Yokosuka Japan, a long way from
that last Budweiser and a little bit farther away from being closed minded to
new ideas and perspectives, I hope!
Namaste, Freinds
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