WINTER 1998/99 - ISSUE NUMBER 46


The Review: A healthy weekend for Men

Rick Green

I've been coming up to the Neahtawanta for over eight years now. On my first visit, I fell in love with Bob & Sally, the neighborhood, and their life energy which empowers every being in their presence.

In 1992 and '93, I took part in several men's retreats which they organized at the center. These empowered me to see a myself as a spiritual being, and opened my eyes to a much wider view of the world I live in. As I have continued to learn and grow, it has been a sorrow that I live so far from the center, and the opportunities since then to participate in the activities the center offers have reached me too late to incorporate into my schedule. In a casual conversation last winter or spring, Bob mentioned that he was beginning to organize a men's yoga weekend for the fall. I pleaded with him to let me know as soon as the dates were set.

The weekend was billed as "A Healthy Weekend for Men -- Yoga Practice and Vegetarian Cooking". A long weekend, from Thursday evening through Sunday noon. Hanging out with a bunch of guys, sharing some of the least stereotypical 'guy' activities I could think of. All activities optional. Invent your own. Sounds perfect.

As we gathered, I saw a few I had met before, a few I felt drawn to, a few I questioned, and I felt some fear that I would find a place in this diverse mix, in only three days. We were professionals, and laborers, artists and administrators. We were all men. Some of us had been practicing yoga for years, others saw this as an introduction to a potential different path. Some of us were strict vegetarians, while others made a point of stopping for that last burger fix, hoping to make it through the weekend without meat. How would we get along, much less come together as a group? I see myself towards one end of this spectrum, a dabbler or 'wannabe' in both areas. My yoga practice has been limited to a few sessions a year until this year, and even now, I manage to spend ten minutes, only four or five times a week. I can't even pretend to be a vegetarian, as it takes more discipline and energy to avoid meat than to include it, in this society. I manage to partake of delicious vegetarian food only once or twice a month. One of the beauties of the Neah-tawanta, is that I knew I would be honored and supported in my intention this weekend, and not shamed in any way.

Bob's invitation to share in the cooking was the first draw. The kitchen is a natural gathering place anyway, and with a variety of vegetables to be washed, peeled, cored, chopped, heated, cooked, mashed, tasted, seasoned, and presented, there was ample fodder for conversation, and a discovery moment by moment of common ground and a common desire to work together. There's no way all 14 of us could fit, even in the Neahtawanta's open oak-beamed kitchen, so there was an almost constant flow of people through the area, picking up small tasks, and wandering off into conversation by the fireplace, or kibitzing from the kitchen table. A single pepper was discovered early, far too hot for comfortable consumption. Finely chopped, it was set aside and all were warned. I considered it nothing short of amazing that not a one of us took the bait, and saw that plate as a macho challenge. We weren't so different after all.

I came to the weekend with the intention of improving my yoga practice. Not so much to learn new poses, since I don't take the time to practice all the poses I've been taught, but to take a small step towards seeing yoga as a part of my everyday life, and bringing the same relaxed striving for perfection of form and flexibility of expression into everything I do. I find myself drawn to a fluid sequence of poses much more than going for an extreme stretch in one of the classic poses. I have no interest in becoming a performer in a yoga circus. I had some fear coming into the first group yoga session, that I would be seen as not serious enough.

Roger has a gift for bringing out the best in people. He walked us through a series of basic stretches, and observed our comfort and levels of flexibility. He then went into a teaching of the fine points of some simple poses, giving each of us some pointers on areas for personal attention. Attention, that's it. What we focus on, will expand and grow. Roger gave us his personal attention, and I for one am the better for it. When I pay attention to my body mechanics, I build health, flexibility, and comfort into my life.

In subsequent sessions, we integrated the micro-movements learned in the basic poses, and linked the basic poses into a series, so that we each developed a personal practice more like a dancing meditation, than any contortionist side-show act. Not all of us had the same focus. Some had goals of improving specific flexibilities, others were more intellectually curious about the practical therapeutic application of yoga as a part of managed health care. We were all honored, and I sensed that we all got what we came for.

The Neahtawanta provides inspiration and mantras for meditation wherever I look. The crisp yet comfortable fall weather drew us outdoors, where the beach, the road, and the woods beckoned us all to walk and experience spirit. The fallen leaves and wood pile attracted some to a meditation of repetitive motions and satisfying percussive energies. Call it yoga of adrenaline, if you wish.

All activities were optional. There were very few where all of us were present. Saturday evening, Bob felt called to invite us to the yoga room for an additional meeting, with nothing said about its meaning or purpose. Every one of us found our way there, and gave each other the gift of our hearts, and of our attention to, and acceptance of each other. The details of what was said burned as a prayer in the flames that illuminated our faces, and the spirit of what was created this weekend was branded into our souls in a way that we will carry out into our lives for a long time to come.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I can't even imagine a picture that would express the spirit of this weekend. One of my personal distractions was to familiarize myself with a new digital camera, which I was supposed to train a friend to use the next week, so I came back with a small collection of photos I took this weekend:

you have access to the photos here:
http://www.mich.com/~rtg/yoga/index.html

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