Into the Unknown

Wilderness imagery is everywhere. It’s hard to escape!

O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie, inside my ribs, under my bony head, under my red-valve heart—and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where: it is going to God-Knows-Where—For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness.
— from “Wilderness” by Carl Sandburg

I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
— Isaiah 43:19

Entering the Dark Forest or the Enchanted Forest is a threshold symbol: the soul entering the perils of the unknown; the realm of death; the secrets of nature, or the spiritual world which man must penetrate to find the meaning.
— JC Cooper,
An Illustrated Encyclopaedia Of Traditional Symbols

Your journal prompts for this week:

1. What is your intention? Every quest has a goal — a treasure, elixir or damsel-in-distress to find. What is yours? Humans are unique in that we can ask (and consider) WHYs and HOWs. This week isn’t about answers; it’s about questions. What do you hope to find? What do you fear you’ll encounter? Use this journal entry to plant those seeds, even if you don’t arrive at clear answers.
2. The Wilderness, while being mysterious, can also be refuge. The real world is a tough place. It was for the ancients, too; it’s no accident that someone in every age has predicted that theirs is the last. Is the known scarier than the unknown for you? Is there something that this contemplative time is protecting you from? What will you gain by putting the world on pause during our time together?

If you have completed the journal prompts above, then simply let yourself write for ten minutes without any rules or restrictions. Consider the prompts, your previous journal entries this week, and just let your pen go!

A NOTE FOR BEGINNERS: Throughout these weeks, the yoga will become a little more “advanced.” The hallmark of Vinyasa-style yoga is that we move with breath … and because the flow is only ten minutes, there’s not a ton of time to give modifications to make those ten minutes truly suitable to absolute beginners.

If any of the flows prove too athletic, these are my recommendations:

1. Take breaks. Pause the recording and take a moment of child’s pose.
2. Do different yoga. I am a big fan of Dianne Bondy, who has a robust YouTube presence with movement options for people in all kinds of bodies and skill levels.
3. Don’t do the yoga at all. Everything is yoga. Any mindful movement where you stay with your body and your breath “counts” as yoga. So go for a walk or do some light stretching instead. As long as you’re focused on your breath and listening to your body, you’re doing great!

Many thanks to The Mercedes Club, Hell’s Kitchen, NY, for letting me record these yoga flows in their gorgeous yoga studio.