by Margaret Bacon Schulze

Harmony speaks to an agreement; that which works together for a pleasing effect, be it music, aesthetics, even relationships. Harmonious health is about restoring the body, mind, and spirit to a state of balance, bringing our energy into alignment. Such is the basis of many indigenous healing practices. When we are off balance, we don’t feel well and our body, mind and spirit will make an effort to set things right; creating a harmonic convergence, if you will.

Physical pain is a message that our body sends to notify us that there is a problem, be it a headache, sprain, or something more serious. Bodily imbalance is probably the one that we’re most aware of because we notice physical pain right away. It is also the imbalance that we’re most likely to make an effort to heal, whether we take medication or seek other forms of healing.

Likewise, the mind can be hurt, often from distributing stimuli, resulting in a need to “check out.” Without attention, such disturbances may manifest in the form of insomnia, depression, and/or rage. These symptoms, as well as others, are again, a cry for help. Ignored, the mind will protect itself sometimes in the form of mental illness or with a desire for numbing agents which may result in substance abuse. There are, of course, remedies such a meditation, qigong, and therapy, or sometimes medication may be necessary.

The spirit too can be out of balance, especially when we lack a spiritual life. Such discord may send us on mystical quests, to church, or sometimes towards destruction behavior in an effort to silence the voice crying out for “soul food.” Self-help books, seminars and retreats, offer to guide us on “our path,” help us “realize our life’s purpose,” and get us “right with God.” We may try out different religions, follow one guru after another, or shun the spirit’s calling altogether. Yet, most of us can’t ignore the soul’s longing.

Some part of us, be it body, mind or spirit (sometimes all three at once), is going to be out of sync at some time in our lives.  By paying attention we can make an effort to bring everything into balance and alignment. Holistic healing strives to align all our energies so that our whole being is in harmony. And, that is a very sweet sound!

AND...PLEASE JOIN US for our next 14 Black Poppies Workshop, Healing Bridges with Mari Villaluna, where we experience the power of an Ute prayer, visualization, theatrical sculptures, reflection, and ritual to promote harmonious health. It is on SAT, MARCH 17 from 10am to 12:30pm in San Francisco. More information, including registration, here.

_ by Margaret Bacon Schulze

         There are those among us who are natural dancers; gifted with such gracefulness, it is as if they walk to music. Such individuals have an innate sense of rhythm, always stepping to the beat. They pick up dances, from salsa to hip hop, easily and make even the most intricate dance moves seem effortless.

        And then, there are those of us who struggle clumsily, to move to the music, having to count out every step of the cha cha as if our lives depended on it.  We take dance lessons and practice constantly to learn simple steps that we are always at risk of forgetting. And, a turn can leave us completely lost.

        I come from a family of dancers. My mother was trained in traditional Okinawan dance from a young age and her brother is a master in the arts of the Ryukyu Islands, including dance. Two of my sisters were disco queens, back in the day. Yet, I was not blessed with such genes. I’ve always felt self-conscious dancing even though I’ve taken lessons in ballet, salsa, folk, even improvisational dance.

         My sister, Kathy (one of the dancing sisters), fondly recalls watching me at a school dance where everyone was rocking out to some heavy beats while my dance partner and I were center stage, under the spotlight, doing our minimalist cool moves. While she says we looked great, you can imagine why I continue to be self-conscious.  Still, whether I do it well or not, I love to dance. I can’t help moving to an upbeat song, particularly if I’m home alone. What is that saying…”dance as if no one is watching…”  (Though, I hope that doesn’t include the drunken frat boy dance.)

        We are born to move and music awakens us to dance. While we may not all be natural dancers, dancing is natural. After all, babies move to music without ever being taught. Dance is a part of every culture and there are dances for every occasion. Almost every species engages in some form of dance.

        Moving through life can be thought of as a dance with twists, and turns, steps forward, to the side, and back, with partners or solo. Our workshop this month is about moving…not just dance, but how we move through the journey of life. Brittany Berman, of our Artist and Healer Network, will lead us in JourneyDance, a personal exploration through movement. And Jason will guide us through life mapping where we note the “moves” in life that we’ve made.

        There is an Okinawan dance, usually done at the end of festivities, loosely called “the crazy dance.” Everyone is invited to dance freestyle, joining in a circle, hands twirling above the head, feet shuffling any which way, dancing alone and yet with others. I invite you to come and dance “crazy” with us as we journey through life.

“Moving forward is not the only direction; sometimes one must move sideways or even take a step back.”

by Margaret Bacon   
    After the destruction, those who had survived came together. For some, the pain of such a great loss made them sick with sorrow. They sat and wept with so much sadness that even the surviving flies would not touch their tears. With grief so great, they had nothing to give to the rebirth of their world. They simply laid down and let their sorrow consume them.
    Others worked tirelessly, day and night, to clean up the waste and find resources to rebuild. Some were fueled by anger, some by hope, and some even felt a sense of adventure at the thought of creating a new world. After a time, life became a little easier. The people still worked hard, but now the urgency of survival was gone. Groups began to gather and share their hopes and dreams for a future. One very smart, old man called together those blessed with great minds and they talked and talked.
    “How could such a terrible thing have happened?” they asked.  And then they argued for days over the answer. They discussed how to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again and what the best plan was for the new world.
    The great minds did little to help with the rebuilding, but that was because they were very busy sharing great ideas. They rarely agreed on any answers, but they seemed to find fulfillment in discussions and even arguments.
    An old woman, who did not have such a great mind, sat on the edge of some of such talks.  She was amazed at the abundance of thoughts, but the long discussions and disagreements soon gave her a headache and she had to walk away.
    Another woman, with a kind heart, put her energy into helping others. She worked day and night taking care of the sick, feeding the hungry and building shelter for those that had none. She was often tired, but she never stopped working.
    The old woman worked with the kind-hearted woman to help others. One day the old woman tried to give the kind-hearted woman a bowl of soup, for she had not eaten all day, but the kind-hearted woman refused to eat and gave the soup to another.
    This made the kind-hearted woman’s daughter angry. The daughter worried for her mother’s health. The daughter was also afraid of growing weak like her mother so she worked hard to take care of her body.
    The daughter drank only drank pure water and ate only the freshest foods, sometimes traveling far into nature to find them. She ran great distances to strengthen her legs and heart and lifted heavy objects to make herself strong. She worked many hours a day to keep herself fit. Others, admiring the daughter’s strong body, sought her advice and she, also being kind like her mother, gladly instructed them in their quest for health and strength.
    The daughter boasted that she would be ready for the next disaster. If it should occur, she would be able to run fast or shield herself from falling objects. If there were a lack of food, her body would be strong enough to survive for many days without eating.
    The old woman listened and tried to eat well and to push her body like the others, but she could not keep up with tiring exercises of the strong daughter and her followers. When the group went running, the woman tried to walk fast with them, but soon she fell far behind. She found that while she couldn’t walk very fast, she could walk quite far and she soon found herself at the edge of the hills. The air was cool and clean and the woman began to feel a sense of peace that she had not felt since the destruction. She stopped thinking about why such a bad thing had happened and worrying if it would happen again.
    The old woman simply enjoyed the walk and appreciated her body for how far it had carried her into nature. When she was tired, she sat and rested. She found a soft, grassy spot and sat to enjoy the sun’s warmth on her back. She closed her eyes and opened her hands to the sky. She began to hum, not really a tune, just a pleasant sound that filled her body and emptied her mind.
    Soon, her thoughts faded away and she stopped humming and simply listened to the silence. She didn’t know when it happened, it might have been a short time or it might have been a very long time, but at some point the silence spoke to her and they talked without speaking for a long while.
    When the old woman returned to herself, it was almost dark, but she was at peace and wasn’t worried or afraid to be alone. She didn’t want to leave the place, but she knew she had to tell the others of the peace she’d found. She was so excited that she almost ran down the hill. As soon as she reached the others, she tried to tell them of experience, but they looked at her oddly. She was disappointed that no one seemed to understand her.
    The next day, the old woman went back to the hills. Again she found peace in silence. Day after day, she always found time to go off by herself. Some days she went to the hills, other days she walked to the water and sometimes she simply sat in her hut, but always the silence came to her and gave her peace.
    Most of the people thought the old woman had become odd and some avoided her. The kind-hearted woman still brought her food, but she looked at her sadly. One day though, a young woman of great mind, a man of kind heart and another woman of great strength saw the peace that the old woman had found. They sought her out and she led them to sit with her in nature. They too listened to silence and found peace.
    Their group was a small one compared to the others that formed. Yet, they lived and worked alongside their fellow people always finding time for silence. And, with the others, they built a new world.

THE END

by Margaret Bacon Schulze
Walking to yoga one morning, I was dismayed to see the sidewalk right outside the building I was entering being torn up. “This is nice for yoga,” I commented to my friend, Takako, over the jarring drone of a jackhammer.

Inside the studio where Angela Pashayan was leading a class in the Yoga of Devotion, the jackhammer penetrated the walls, rising from the street below. It might have been dulled from its two story climb, but it was still loud enough to be annoying and Angela had to raise her voice as she led us into meditation.

There was no ignoring the aural distraction outside the window, yet remarkable, without yelling, Angela was able to speak loud enough for us to hear her. Instead of competing with the grating noise from below, she encouraged us to use the vibrating sound as a tool of focus; to break up stuck thoughts in our minds and loosen tightness in our bodies.

As we progressed into asanas, Angela guided us to “jackhammer” away resistance. The imagery was empowering as I imagined petty worries turning into dust. I felt the stiffness in m y right shoulder being chipped away, dissolved to bits like the cement on the sidewalk, the ache eased no longer of service. In warrior, the jackhammer’s steady plummeting actually helped me sink into the powerful pose, drawing strength from the incessant hum, breaking through my own self-defensiveness.

When we reached savasana, the jackhammer suddenly stopped, as if in reverence to the dead of corpse pose. Tears of release flowed as I lay on my back through meditation. Like the old, stuck cement, I was able to break up and throw out old aches and pains, resentments and frustrations that needed to go. Everyone agreed that the class had indeed been a powerfully, moving one.

In her classes, Angela often talks us through affirmations in the unique Bhakti practice that she has developed. She encourages us to set our intention in prayer pose, to acknowledge our past when looking back in twists, expressing gratitude for where we’ve been. Reaching up and out in warrior, she guides us to look forward and reach out for our intention, to see it and realize it at our fingertips. And, just as the jackhammer is was a tool to tear up the sidewalk that day Angela used it as an instrument in her teaching. What would normally have been an annoyance in any yoga class became the sound of healing. In parting, Angela encouraged us to use all external distractions as implements in our yoga practice.

As we left the building, the workers were already laying new cement on the sidewalk. I almost stepped in the smooth, wet pavement before some miraculous reflect sent me jumping over a newly laid square. One of the workers paused to kindly move a barrier out of our way as we filed past.

One of the things I most appreciate about Angela’s classes is the imagery and visualizations she presents which work as affirmations for me. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with coronary artery disease and had to have a procedure to remove and prevent further artery blockage. I saw Angela soon after I got out of the hospital, tired, bruised and a bit depressed. I also felt somewhat defeated that, as an advocate of holistic health and a physically active vegetarian, I had to undergo such drastic treatment. I was also pissed off at all the meds I’d been prescribed. In addition, I wondered if, despite all my efforts to live a healthy lifestyle, the arteries would again become clogged. My cardiologist had explained that my condition was hereditary and that my liver produced excessive cholesterol.

Angela gave me a CD of “healing music” and visualization. Knowing my background in swimming she told me to visualize myself swimming through my arteries to keep them clear. Hers was some of the best medicine I took. I continue to listen to the CD, I continue to use the visualization and I continue to practice yoga. I’m feeling very well these days and have been able to cut back on medication. My cardiologist told me that if all her patients practiced yoga she’d be out of business.

The metaphor of the jackhammer from that class has stayed with me for a long time, just as yoga stays with me long after I have come out of an asana. For that reason I am devoted to Yoga of Devotion.

Angela Pashayan is the founder of Yoga of Devotion, a philanthropic yoga organization serving the needs of children worldwide. For more information, please visit www.yogaofdevotion.org.

This message was given at Pine United Methodist Church in San Francisco on Sunday, August 28, 2011 by Margaret Bacon Schulze.

Realizing Destiny
Scriptures -  Exodus 3:1-15, Matthew 16:21-28

Both the scripture readings today speak to the fulfillment of prophecy and what might be understood as Moses’ and Jesus’ respective destinies. God tells Moses that he is to free the Israelites and Jesus foretells of his own death and resurrection.

These two scriptures got me to thinking a lot about destiny and what that means to me and perhaps other people of faith. When we look at interpretations, even definitions of destiny, that is “a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency” (that’s from Webster), the belief is, naturally quite philosophical, as well as complex and simplistic at the same time.

So, in doing my research  I learned that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, rejected the Calvanists’ theory of pre-destination, that is, "that some persons had been elected by God for salvation and others for damnation.”
Which is possibly where the term, “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” comes from.

Rather Wesley and other Christians influenced by Dutch Theologian, Jacobus Arminius, believed that “while God is omnipotent and knows the choices that individuals will make, he still gives individuals the power to ultimately choose (or reject) everything, regardless of any internal or external conditions relating to the choice.”

As a Methodist, I’d rather believe that although God may know what I’m going to do, I still have choices in life. And in modern society, most of us have the luxury, or the dilemma, of many choices…we can choose where we live, our occupation, what we eat, who our friends are, when, and if, we’ll have children and ultimately who, if anyone, we want for a life partner. (Some people make that choice more than once, but that’s what free will is about.) Anyway, we now have a lot of choices, probably more than people have ever had and even more than many cultures still have.

So, how do free will and destiny work together?  Does it mean that no matter what choices we make we are fated to end up where we end up?