If you are going through hell, keep going.   – Winston Churchill

I read this for the first time on the back of my juice lid.  It felt like I was going through hell at that point and I really needed the reminder.   The church where I was serving had flooded for the billionth time that year and I was  spending my days and nights wet-vacing (is that a word?)  the basement, then climbing the stairs with a huge bucket of cruddy water to dump the water directly into the sewer.  Wow, did it  s u c k.  I was exhausted, crazy mad at the weather for all the rain, frustrated with the *&%$# building, and in a near paralyzing fear about how we would ever pay for fixing this wretched problem.

I needed this quote from Churchill to remind me that the only way out of the situation was to go through it.  So, every morning, despite my strong desire to hide under the covers,  I would put on my big girl pants, show up, and do what needed to be done.

Tapas, in yoga-speak, is that willingness and determination to keep showing up in life, despite challenges, fears, frustrations, disappointments, and set-backs.  There are many areas of my life that I really need to develop some tapas.  They aren’t like the perpetually flooded basement, but things that I am avoiding because I don’t want to feel the intimidation and insecurities that come along with the challenge.

Next Monday starts a 5 week Tapas Yoga series.  We will practice staying present in the midst of physical, mental, and spiritual challenges “on the mat”.  And then we’ll take that confidence, focus, and courage “off the mat”, where we actually live out our yoga practice.   This is a more advanced class, so a basic knowledge of and experience with yoga is strongly recommended.

Tapas yoga is Mondays, 7-8:30p.m. at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Urbana (next to Meijer), March 10- April 7th.  There will be a make-up class on April 14th to talk about any class you missed or anything you want to review.  The cost is $50 for the whole series.  Because of how series are designed it doesn’t work to pay per class, as a walk-in.

If you are interested in the class, let me know soon.   I hope that you aren’t going through hell right now, but if you are; keep going.

peace on your head,

Rachel